Often we think of classic Asian landscape painting as being rather naturalistic. But a close examination of the history reveals a highly competitive desire for stylistic fame by the great masters. As a consequence of this some of the achievements of Sung Dynasty painting show reductive tendencies by virtue of the license of interpretation. I sought to work within this tradition and through it’s embrace developed my own language of reductive form for interpreting phenomenon which now defines both my sculpture and painting. Over a four year period I carved approximately forty mountains in a variety of stones: alabaster, limestone, basalt, granite, and various marbles. I exhibited these carvings primarily at Gump’s in San Francisco where they were very well received given the fact that Gump’s was the first importer of rare and fine Chinese artifacts in the US and the first art gallery in San Francisco. It was a wonderful blending of two worlds. Modern and interpretive renditions of an archaic art shown in a classical setting. However, in time, I was overcome by the feeling of being trapped in an archaic world which held little relevancy to my own place and time and the comfort of identity transformed itself into not only disenchantment with my product but also the serious self doubt endemic to artists. The revolution brewing was an examination of the need to alter the stone at all. My studies had naturally included the Japanese art of stone selection and arrangement. I started to leave portions of my stones unaltered; the strength and conviction this required resulted in a satisfaction which carving could not compete with. In 1984 I abandoned carving altogether, traveled to Japan and with a landscape architect whose job it was to care for the stones of the Japanese Imperial Palace in Kyoto I studied the art of stone selection, canting and placement. I visited every major and many of the smaller of the over 400 gardens in Kyoto during the day and at night would discuss my observations with my teacher. I accompanied landscaping companies to their jobsites to watch the master arrangers set the stones. My thinking was that the natural stone is a timeless metaphor for the landscape and transcends stylistic tendencies in carving.

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