Intake

"My current work attempts to contextualize the intrinsic relationships between human beings and tools. Tools have marked stages in human development from primitive existence to current levels of technology. The increasing specialization and adaptation in the design and functionality of various implements has, at least on the surface, presented evidence that human beings continue to advance along the evolutionary continuum.

The catalyst behind my current sculpture is the belief that the innate connection humans have with tools is slowly being severed, and that tools in the age of automation are increasingly devoid of direct human physical involvement. Once, these implements served as allegorical symbols of the inner working of the never ending human struggle to give shape and meaning to the world through hands-on contact, now these objects are foreign or forgotten. Tools represent not only an extension of the human mind, but also become symbols of a physical extension of the human body. My sculptures infuse the vernacular of mass production, mechanisms, and multiple casting using molds as the primary means of construction in an attempt to create artifacts that examine the tension and dissonance that exist in our present society; a society facing the threat of dehumanization and alienation away from objects made by hand." -Mitch Messina.