In May “Blickachsen” was opened in Bad Homburg exhibiting one of your sculptures. Currently you are in Nuremberg and have received a prize.

Is this the 1st time you are exhibiting in Europe?  I have exhibited in Europe since finishing my art studies in 1985. I had a great interest to see the art of Europe and have traveled extensively. I then settled in Sweden for 8 months in 1988. There I exhibited in Malmö at Lillakonstsallongen and in Kalmar, where I lived. From there I went to Berlin and Czecheslovakia, before it split up, and had some furthur exhibitions of mostly small sculptures, paintings, drawings and ceramics. While working at the Bilhauerwerkstatten in Berlin, I began making larger sculptures in concrete. More recently I have exhibited in Norway, Switzerland and last year in Hannover for the exhibition ‘Neue Kunst in Alten Garten’.

How is your work being received here? Very, very well.  The direct, spontanious, often site-influenced and process oriented way in which I build enormous sculptures is perhaps quite unusual and therefore interesting, especially in Germany where sculptural concepts are usually more rooted in thought versus process.  I dig into the earth and build molds in the ground with materials from the immediate area, filling them with concrete, so each sculpture is special to the place it is built.  I now work on a tremendous scale sometimes up to 50 tons and more than 12 meters high. It is important for a New York artist, like myself, to come to Europe, where the sculpture tradition extends back to the Stone Age, especially since my work refers directly to that history, just as it is important for a German artist to travel to New York. I am seeking more opportunities in Germany, so I will continue working here.

What was the prize for? I recently received the first prize for my sculptures, ‘Portrait of a Man and Woman’ at the Haltestelle Kunst exhibition in Nürnburg. It was agreat honor for me to be selected out of 40 artists from 24 countries. The Cultural administration now would like to buy the sculpture for 25,000 Euro’s and keep it where it stands by the Bahnhof by the Südpark.

Your sculpture at “Blickachsen” in Bad Homburg is named “Hua”.

Is this in reference to the Hua Shan mountains? Yes, the mountains in China. I am inspired by their shape.

Is there a repeating theme in your work? Certainly nature, the unconscience, sexuality, music, mathematics and primative cultures are common themes in my work.

What materials do you prefer? Beton (concrete) combined with stainless steel or copper. Often I use earth pigments, as well.

You majored in Math and Physics.

How did you get into sculpturing? I finished my Mathematic and Physics degree two years early and had to complete other elective studies for my diploma. I started taking ceramics first and by the following semester enrolled in every art class possible including art history, painting, and drawing, all my favorites.  The sculpture teacher was a drunk and hated me, so I could never take a sculpture class at Skidmore College. On one early morning drunken sojourn, he stole a ceramic and concrete sculpture of mine and destroyed it in front of a class he was teaching. Two years later in 1985 I received a Masters of Fine Art (MFA) in Sculpture from Bennington College in Vermont.

Did your have a mentor who influenced you?  From 1994-2001 I lived and worked in New York City with sculptor Mark di Suvero as his personal assistant for 7 years. He is a deeply poetic man with a concerned, open and giving soul, works in steel and I learned very much from him.

Is there a relationship between Math, Physics and your work? Art and Mathematics are both abstract and pure languages that reflect and describe the world we live in. Conceptually, my art and mathematical interests are similar, both ask and answer the same questions about lifes mysteries. I did my graduating thesis on the relationship between Gödel, the mathematician, Echer, the illusionist painter, and Bach the composer.  Most importantly though, I discovered through mathematics and muisic (I play guitar and cello) a language in sculpture that is my own, something very elemental and primative, which comes from my soul and feels true.

You have set-up several sculpture parks in the USA.

What was your first project? I founded Connecticut Sculpture Park in 1996 and since then have started many others including Cherokee Sculpture Park in Philadelphia and currently, together with sculptor Michael Manjarris from Texas, The Hudson River Sculpture Trail and a large sculpture project for the City of New Orleans. I hope my next project will happen here in Germany, perhaps in Munich with Ralph Kirberg of Sculpture-Network.

How did that come about? From the very beginning of my career I have worked at sculpture parks like Franconia in Minnesota, Salem Art Works and Socrates in New York. I have assisted hundreds of artists to realize sculpture projects of different kinds and become keenly aware of what works and what doesn’t work in the public realm. When I first made large sculptures, I needed a place to store them and began placing them in farm fields. They eventually turned into sculpture parks. I have now formed a company with Michael and we are currently working with developers and cities in both urban and rural areas to bring sculpture to the public.
 
Currently you are organizing an art project from Canada to New York.

What is the idea behind this? The Hudson River Sculpture Trail will stretch 100 miles from NYC to Saratoga. The concept is to place significant international and local public sculpture along the banks of the Hudson River in preparation of the 400 year aniversary of Henrik Hudson’s arrival on the river in 2009. The Hudson Valley is changing from a former industrial area to a residential area. The sculpture will be seen both from land and water to add a tremendous visual, symbolic and cultural element that will be permanent and continue to grow after 2009. The Huson River is an area of art historical importance, most notable the Hudson River Valley Painters. The sculpture trail will continue and add to this tradition.

Who are you organizing this with? Two years ago, Michael Manjarris and I approached the developer Martin Ginsburg. He has championed and is funding our idea. We began last year in Haverstraw, NY,  an hour north of New York City, with ten large scale sculptures up to 11 meters high. Martin is developing and revitalizing the waterfronts of many major cities along the Hudson River and the sculptures add a significant cultural element and desireablility to live in the area.

What work is involved? We are currently procuring sculptures from Europe for the next phase of the project. In the first phase sculptors Claes Hake from Sweden and New York sculptors Chakaia Booker, Deborah Masters, Joel Graesser and John Clement were involved, among others. Other artists like di Suvero, John Henry and Magdalena Abakanowicz will also be involved.

Setting-up art projects is difficult and time consuming.

What keeps you going? Perseverence, obsticles always come up, especially in this business, just keep going forward! The pleasurable thing about working directly with large developers is that much of the permision and other byurocracy with cities is not even a factor, as the developer has already established those contacts. It has been a tremendous struggle to reach this point, but through the process I have learned every aspect of building up a sculpture park from dealing with the artists to installation. I am a licenced New York City Crane operator hired specifically for sculpture projects and have installed some of Mark di Suvero largest sculptures, for example, like the one at Potzdamner Platz in Berlin or at major exhibitions in Paris. I have also been employed by the Calder Foundation for major restoration work and by sculptor John Henry to build up his works at over 30 meters tall. Now, however, I mostly focus on building my own sculpture and parks.

Our current issue centers around music. One of our authors states “architecture is built music”.

Does music have a significance in your work?  For both the maker and viewer, sculpture, like music, carries a beat, a pulsing motion directed to and from the soul that when reveled in takes us into dream like states of mind.  I think of my sculpture as a view into my unconscious mind, a lanscape of very primative things, rudimentary elements of life, nature, science, spirituality, passion and music.

Finally, what are you going to tell your friends back home about Bad Homburg? They have to come! It is a beautiful city with one of the most beautiful parks in the world and my sculpture “Hua” stands  there. The current Blickachsen Exhibition is fantastic, with many world renowned artists participating and the State must support the efforts by Christian Scheffel and Gallery Scheffel to help it grow!