My personal collection includes a body of two and three dimensional work derived from direct carving in wood and stone. Direct carving means that you do not have a preconceived idea about what the final image will be. You work with the material first, then see what happens.
On a weekend walk by a creek, I found a patch of Chinese privet shrubs. The wood is fine grained, dense, and durable. There are long pointed structures growing out of the limbs in regular intervals. Drawing oval shapes around the protruding structures resulted in mask-like faces and anatomical forms emerging from the wood. Cutting away the negative spaces around the oval shapes revealed totems with forgotten meanings, sensual biomorphic forms, and strange creatures, almost formed. They were like little hatchlings pecking their way out of an egg, waiting for me to coax them out of their shell. One thing led to another. The resulting cast of three dimensional characters required an appropriate setting to interact with each other and tell their stories. Wood and cardboard structures and dioramas were made to provide a context, like theater sets for a play. I invite you, the observer, to create your own stories as you view the performers on stage.
"Four Totems In A Post-Analog World" by Frank Goff.
Frank Goff