Portfolio I, Flagstaff, Arizona, 1998-Present The word “scrap” equates with “fragment,” “leftover,” and is most often thought of as small. In this portfolio, scrap includes larger, remnant pieces of wood. In a Vaz – a series of three works – was the first result of using bigger chunks. As seen in earlier work (see Assie II, 1988, Portfolio III), these works toy with the viewer’s perception. Sometimes worldview and psychological state of mind become a focus. In a Vaz might connote either a sophisticate’s centerpiece or a still life, but in whichever case it surprises expectations with forms that resemble old tools or plants that might become aggressive subjects rather than passive objects. The jump from In a Vaz to There’s a Crack in My Sidewalk comes naturally. Ideas from the early Soul Stick series, oil pastels done around 1986, and the strange forms emerging from In a Vaz come together. After the completion of a horizontal Soul Stick (There’s a Crack in my Sidewalk), the single stem, two legged, and tripod visualizations started re-surfacing. This time, asymmetry and simplicity were the leading tenets. The series Asymmetria began with drawings, after which the first piece, Asymmetria I, took shape as a combination of carving, cutting, and assemblage. This segment of the portfolio continues to introduce pieces in approximate time sequence. There are a number of series represented, and “augmented scrap” is the primary medium.
