Exhibitions

Everyone has had that moment where they have had to dig deep and just find it. For me, I have had moments in the Army where I was drowning. My body stopped functioning and I was slipping under the ocean waves into the deep. The only thing I could do was hope — hope that another fellow soldier would somehow find me and fish me out.

Even though this moment involved my life, everyone has had this universal experience. A human experience: to find hope. On the sea there are many stories, forgotten and forever remembered, of immigration, victory, tragedy, heroism, cowardice. A common factor that unites all these disparate stories is hope.

So this sculpture — made of found materials from an abandoned mine, an abandoned foundry, an abandoned train depot — reminds us of the moments we have had to dig deep and find hope.

Sculpture in the Park is the largest outdoor juried sculpture show and sale in the United States, held annually in Loveland, Colorado. Founded in 1984 by a group of local sculptors and hosted by the Loveland High Plains Arts Council, it now draws thousands of collectors and more than 160 artists across a wide range of styles and mediums.

We have all been at a crossroads. Wondering — what am I doing with my life? What am I going to do? Where am I going to go? You might even be at that very crossroads right now.

Remember what brought you to this moment. Who helped you get here. Re-centre yourself. Think. Meditate. Pray. Follow your spiritual process. You will find that you probably already know what to do. What you need is courage at the crossroads.

Nothing will weather the soul harder than life. It will shroud you in darkness, keep you there without hope. It will leave you scrambling at the helm, spinning it around, wondering where do you even turn? Or how can you even turn to peace?

I give a piece of sailor’s wisdom: turn to the dawn, till the darkness is gone.

I have been there myself, conducting ocean manoeuvres in inky darkness, with waves so rattling the phosphorescent compass was a blur. The one thing that kept hope alive for all those aboard my boat was to turn us forward unto dawn.

The ocean is built on dreams. For thousands of years, the binding human experience has been dreams. Dreams of a better life, a brighter tomorrow, what lies beyond the horizon, of leaving behind hard times.

We lie awake, trying to go back to them. We fight and sacrifice for them. Our dreams have echoed across time and made waves across the world. Dreams have led billions to relentlessly journey. Nothing carries humanity quite like a dream.

Sculpture is the art of failure. Stone is unyielding — or maybe I just lack the skill, but I break all my sculptures. I frequently fail.

In Army Special Forces there were several times I faced my own mortality and the mortality of others because of failures. But you learn something when you’re falling from the sky, or isolated in the monstrous waves of the ocean. Alone. Never give up. Never surrender. Never quit. Live. And that is how you deal with failure.

This sculpture is about failure. It was broken multiple times. It’s not what it should have been, but it’s what happens after not giving up. In tradition, I leave you with a shanty about a ship that failed in what she was supposed to do, but never gave up and went on to do much more — the RMS Olympic.

Since before the sands and times of Egypt, cats have held a special origin with humans. They have protected us, guided us, been our gods and goddesses. The divine relationship we have with them is integrated into the human identity and memory.

The sculpture is made from traditional limestone and granite. The halo is based on the sun motif used in ancient Egyptian sculpture to designate celestial status, and the work is inspired by Bastet, goddess of protection, and the canopic jars used to prepare the body for the afterlife.

Mimiw was a proud and elegant cat who looked out for the clan. May this statue carry his soul back to Egypt.

Mimiw is a special piece. He is based on his real life counterpart, who passed away. This funerary effigy calls back on thousands of years of Egyptian tradition, including the traditional materials used — brass, limestone, and selenite.

Instead of a sun as a headdress, Mimiw’s headpiece ornament hearkens back to his distinguishing fur. Mimiw, we miss you.