Statement–August 17, 2010, on "Stinger" and "Cerebral"

Michael Boles, Stinger, 2009. Aluminum, copper, bronze,
malachite, and hematite. 22" x 59" x 1." Private collection.

Stinger and Cerebral are abstract compositions that investigate the fluidity of sculptural material and the interpretation of drawn line in metal. I intended to retain the original linearity and visceral quality of my two-dimensional arrangements in the three-dimensional realm. I wanted this to be an automatic process in the sense that the linear qualities seemed naturally and effortlessly preserved from drawing to sculpture. Working with these materials relates to art of the past in terms of the devices and basic processes... but with a purpose that applies to the here and now and of who I am as an artist in the twenty-first century.

The shapes used in Stinger and Cerebral are uniquely combined by my own sense of art. These works are objects in and of themselves. They allude to nothing but themselves and the imagery that makes up my visual world. They are carriers of information; not that they convey some object, but that they communicate my essence of reality. These works as well as my others draw on obvious cultural signs, themes, and symbols, while reinventing the iconography of each. In each sculpture, I attempt to define my sense of the abstract through the subconscious marriage of deliberate, yet elusive, cultural symbols. I also strive to manifest order, or even disorder, in an extremely intentional manner.

Michael Boles, Cerebral, 2009. Aluminum, copper,
and hematite. 35" x 77" x 1." Private collection.