Martin Munson, sculptor

Statement

The nature of materials has always intrigued me. While I studied art in school, I worked demolition during the summer to pay for my education. I was fascinated with the way things reacted under stress. The excavated and torn away semed to captivate the inner qualities of the materials, exposing their weaknesses and the beauty of their natural, physical characteristics. Even though the elements were man-made, the force used to disturb them was the essence of physics and I was the catalyst of that action/reaction.

The experience of technology and reclamation is visible in my sculptures and creates contrast. The contrast exists between natural and man-made forms. Parts of my work appear organicaly reclaimed while other images look technically processed. I respond to the struggle between the powers of nature; nature's endurance and slow reclamation versus man's ability and inability to control and manipulate this process. The kinetic works are intended as environmental interpretative tools. My work addresses the success and failure of man's technological prowess versus Mother Nature's continuances

The techniques that I use vary and depend on that which most accurately articulates my concerns. I use a combination of forms and materials that suitably depict my ideas and feelings. I intend my use of mixed-media to convey my thinking through association, which the viewer brings to the piece.The formal arrangement or composition relates information about art. The finished and resolved parts interacting with the organic references invite the viewer to consider man's place and role in nature.The size and scale relationship of my sculpture is strongly determined by both the idea and the materials that are available to me at any given time. Most of the materials that I use are recycled or second hand. I am constantly responding to both my environment as a resource and to the collective effect of my life's experience.