Statement on Carved Wood Bas-Reliefs and Sculptures

What is the difference between painting and sculpture?  And should we be asking ourselves this question?

I’m a self-taught artist, and when I started making art I thought I would stick to drawing and painting, two-dimensional arts.  I did, for many years.  But after I moved from paper and canvas to wood panel and then decided to carve into the wood panel, my work evolved into full-blown wood carving and construction.

Nevertheless, I feel that I haven’t really left 2-D art behind.  When I first ventured into carving, on wood panel, I would pick up sculptural elements in the second-hand frames that I used to frame the wood panels, and I would extend the composition of the panel into the wood frame by painting the frame and carving into it further.  This constituted my first venture into combining painting and sculpture.

Many of my subsequent bas-reliefs have frame-like or outright frame pieces in them, a carryover from the above-mentioned transitional works.  When I started to do free-standing sculptures, these flat pieces would find their way into the work.  In another connection to 2-D, I always draw on and paint my 3-D wood work.  So although I call myself a sculptor now, I feel that I haven’t ended my years as a painter.

As for the content of my work, it is obviously figurative and narrative.  I like to leave further descriptions to the viewer.