Artists Describing Their Art:

Rufus Adeniyi - I am a widely traveled Nigerian Aesthetics consultant. A graduate of South Thames College, London and University of London Goldsmith College. I believed in Art as a way of life and a reflection of the spiritual and socio-economic life of the people. My flair for natural things of beauty has no measure. Apart from my Art gallery, I also run a consultancy firm in all forms of artistic embellishment in fine furnishing for corporate bodies, private individuals and diplomatic missions. Married and strongly believed in modesty and fair play....

Daniel Lombardo - My art is first informed by the human figure, its essential vertical presentation with a focus on unique but related frontal and rear views, and the gestalt of interconnected shapes that are both linear and volumetric. It is secondarily informed by totem poles of the Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest and other tribal cultures from around the world, with their stacked and interconnected elements that may represent key figures or concepts in their myths and legends, combined to "tell a tale" or remind of basic cultural tenets. Though my sculptures do not represent any specific events, I imagine my pieces as abstract tales both of personal events or generally themes of human experience. The pieces develop from gestural sketches based on this visual language of interconnected forms merging and diverging usually along a vertical axis. Most recently I have worked in forged steel which has fostered new gestural elements that this material inspires. ...

Max Tolentino - I do not think of art as a rationalization of an artistic thought or perhaps I am not still able to think this way. What fascinates me is the exercise of art; it is doing something that can express my personal point of view of things and the perception and the expression of the world as I see. Anything that carries human significance may cause me an emotion with the same intensity that I see at any museum in the world. Art is an emotional and intellectual product to me. Since my late starting in arts I have been sculpting my way in the artistic scenario with a differenced curiosity so that my overture to this environment gives me a privileged position. Doubts - no doubt - will arise, as my works transit between the formalism and the concept, between the beautiful and the political in art. But the doubts belong more to the one who sees then to me. Maybe I want to go further than the cultural concepts i?1/2 not that I pay much attention to it - but perhaps one day appreciating from outside I may glimpse a chance to be inside thus contributing in a certain way to this world ...

Merlin Mccormick - I am new to the art world and still trying to feel my way through. I have lived through the free love era of years gone by and now wonder what have happened to that spirit of enlightenment. That mind set that the body is a beautiful thing to marvel at and that sexual expressions of love and openness was something to strive for. That does not seem to be the case presently. It seems as though there is a push to view the human body as something to be ashamed of and not displayed in its nude form and viewed as something vulgar. The art works that I have created express that spirit of free love and appreciation for the human body and the freedom and awareness gained from sexual interactions of the body and mind. It is my hope that my creations re-light that flame from the past and that people fine my work appealing and would want to own one or more pieces. I only show a few here but I have many more ready to offer. They are truly unique one of a kind items that will grow in value as time goes by. ...

Bart Soutendijk - I have been making Wire Wall Murals on a commission basis since 1972. A Wire Wall Mural is the final step in a simplification process that starts with a photograph or group of photographs. I make and remake the line drawing to emphasize only the essence of the subject. I ask, myself: "What is it about this image that makes is unique." Then I strip away the lines that are not required to convey that quality. Finally, like the poet who reviews every word, I re-examine every turn and curve as I bend the wire into that image -- a large line drawing in space. The final installation, a solid line in front of a moving shadow, has scale enough to suit a large space without dominating the room. After I make a wire wall sculpture I hang it up and "live with it" for a while. Sometimes I cut away additional material, add more, or change bends before I consider the sculpture ready for a home, gallery, or museum. I say: Nothing is permanent, as long as you have pliers. ...

Gunnel Watkins - My intention is to experience creative expression inside the context of the transpersonal. transaEURC/peraEURC/sonaEURC/al/transE^pEtmrsEtmnl/ Adjective: Of, denoting, or dealing with states or areas of consciousness beyond the limits of personal identity. Forms arise spontaneously and naturally from present circumstancesaEUR|..reflection, meditation, dreams and ritual open up dialogues with form bringing mind and heart back into balanceaEUR|aEUR|.central to my artistic expression, is the premise, that the art-making process is salutary in and of itself. I work with art and people with special needs; and, as an end-of-life Doula. aEURoeWhen the soul wants to experience something, she throws out an image in front of her and steps into it aEURoe Meister Eckhart ...