NatureView - An origin story
NatureView wall sculptures.
The work presented here represents one of the two different artistic processes I have pioneered.
I am always experimenting with new ideas and processes and discovered this artistic process while working on a consignment project, a piece of furniture. Normally working with dry, spalted, endgrain wood (especially thin pieces) it is a very delicate and tedious task as it tends to fall apart. I found that by using a type of binding agent, I could change the density in order to manipulate it. I can then transform it with the addition of colors and windows to it. By cutting it almost veneer thin, light can then be projected through the piece. Once I polished my first piece, the most intricate and beautiful forms appeared and I knew I had found something that I had never seen before. I began a search for other art formed in this way, however I was unsuccessful, so I decided to make it my own and name it NatureView.
NatureView pieces are a new form of contemporary, functional, mixed-media art. They combine an equal mix of abstraction, woodworking, and technology. The name NatureView came from viewing nature up close and in a totally different light. Not only are they beautiful pieces of art, but each one is like simultaneously peering into a microscope, and looking into the cosmos.
Each handcrafted piece is unique and one of a kind. The artistic process starts with the visual art piece. I choose only reclaimed wood that embodies age, spalting, character and contrast. I start with a vision of what I want the finished piece to look like, and then sculpt the piece to enhance the patterns through the wood and the lighting transmission effects. Under that lies the etched, frosted, or reflective panels that changes the lighting color and perception. I may then add mirrors for further reflectivity, depending on the piece. The RGB LED lights are artistically mounted in patterns that enhance the main art piece and cast correlated tints and shades. The art piece comes to life through these programmed lights.
Art is personal and subjective. When viewed in your own space you want it to evoke emotions. NatureView art is calming, almost hypnotic. Yet can fill you with amazement and wonder. They are dynamic and every time you look at it you will see something different.
Through these five layers of artistic vision, the colored light itself is artistically transformed not only by the use of the mirrors and glass, but radically altered when filtered through the art piece itself, giving each piece an incredible depth and radiance
NatureView pieces are signified by a NV#, a nomenclature meaning NatureView and then the date and serial number of the piece. I also give a name or title that describes or communicates my impressions for each piece. The piece is then finished in a handcrafted shadowbox frame made from reclaimed hardwoods.