Artist Statement
My sculpture arises from a lifelong interest in the origins of life and the universe and from a deep inner questioning of what it means to be human. I was born just simply wanting to know who I am, motivated by a curiosity about why we are here. I am deeply connected to nature and so the first pieces I made were intended to represent buds coming out of the ground in spring. As I pondered them they appeared to take on the aspect of human figures. Even today, the abstract figurative form always rewards me with the same surprise of discovery.
Before I became a sculptor I was a craftsman in wood during which time I acquired a love of materials and a fascination with the ability to transform them. Materials speak to me through their visual properties, their history and their sheer physical presence. Handling, touching and shaping earth-centric materials connects me to the planet and makes me feel alive. I use wood, stone and steel in a sculptural context experimenting with non-verbal ways to investigate the story of human consciousness and evolution.
The connections of people to one another, to their inner spirit and to the cosmos inspire me. I derive courage from the strength of the life force I see in all things. I am also inspired by the ancient rock art of Africa, Europe and America and by the Native American worldview. I often work within a philosophical landscape I call The Ancestors. Their story is our story, a record of the great Life Force that permeates the universe. They kept telling me “There is more. There is more to life than meets the eye.” My sculpture arises from a lifelong interest in the origins of life and the universe and from a deep inner questioning of what it means to be human.
Most pieces begin with an intuitive or visual image in my mind imbued with symbolism and archetype. Next, models are made to record and evaluate ideas. Then materials are chosen that embody an idea in their visual and visceral qualities. My dominant process is carving as free hand shaping which allows for an intimate connection between the idea and the material. Once roughed out a sculpture receives a great deal of attention to refine its shape and surfaces. My work has a studied simplicity that focuses the mind and the senses.
A Brief Bio for a Nonlinear and Ongoing Life
Born into a working family, Len was always making things whether for his father’s construction business or himself. His family was very religious and his youth was full of rules, restrictions and a sense of knowing the answers to all the important questions in life. The making part stuck, Len loved making things, but not the other part. He always had more questions than there were answers.
Len spent a lot of time alone in nature, not fitting into the public schools because of his family belief system and not fitting into the religious order because of his questions. He loved the change of seasons in New England. And he loved the variety of trees, always the trees. He spent hours watching the squirrels and birds in a little patch of woods behind his home. When not outdoors Len could be found in the local library reading about natural history. Len’s dream as a boy was to be a forest ranger and live in the woods among all those other living things. Besides being fascinating to him, they never talked back or told him what to do or who to be
Getting a secular education was not allowed, so Len’s first college degree was in theology. Again, there were lots more questions than answers. Since the war in Vietnam disrupted his plans for studies he did not get back to science and biology until much later in life. In the intervening years Len took up another deep interest of his, woodworking. Between 1978 and 1996 he operated his own cabinet and furniture shops. He also learned pattern making and boat building while honing his skills to become a true craftsman.
Len went back to college as an adult to reclaim his boyhood dream. He ended up working with endangered species reintroduction and management. A PhD in conservation biology was earned in 2008. One of the hardest things for him about being in school was not having a shop, but eventually he and his wife bought a house with an old building that became his studio while he finished school.
Not finding work related to his education, Len dove completely into the studio and became a full-time artist. His art career had begun earlier in the 1980’s when he was turning bowls and selling them at shows and galleries around the Pacific Northwest. But now it blossomed. It turned out that making art and improving his ability to do so was the most joyful and fulfilling part of his life.
A great assist on his journey came when his wife earned her BFA in 2010. Len says it felt like I learned so much from her and her process that I too received an education in art. He was finally able to give himself permission to say, “I am an artist” and get on with it as a core part of his existence.
Len became an artist through the circumstances of his life, compelled by a desire to express himself in visual and tactile ways. The whole thing has been non-linear, as if life was all upside down and backwards. He reflects, “I kept wanting something that did not seem to want me. The result is that instead of me trying to find my passion and make it happen, I let my passion find me, which really means to do what it is in me to do. Make art.”
Curriculum Vitae
Shows and Exhibitions
2024
11th Annual Abstract Sanctuary, Verum Ultimum Gallery, Portland, OR
Whisper.Verum Ultimum Gallery
The Living Mark,Verum Ultimum Gallery
Northwest Expressions,Northwind Art, Port Townsend, WA
2023
10th Anniversary Show for invited artists,Little Pink House Gallery, Genesee, ID
2019
Cross-Over,Northwest Stone Sculptors Association
2018
2018 Eugene Biennial,Karin Clarke Gallery, Eugene, OR
2016Chair Affair, Best Professional Design award, Interior Designers of Idaho, Boise, ID
2015
Second Artist Collaboration Project,juried show, Spokane, WA
2014
Artist Trust Benefit Auction, WA.
2012
Ancestors and Archetypes, solo show, Center for Arts and History, Lewiston, ID,
2011
Growth Rings II,wood art show, Dahmen Artisan Barn, Uniontown, WA, coordinator and exhibitor
2009Growth Rings,wood art show, Dahmen Artisan Barn, Uniontown, WA, coordinator and exhibitor
Artists in Wood: New Expressions, Wawawai Canyon winery, Pullman, WA
2008
Northwest Woodturning Invitational,Ridenbaugh Gallery, Moscow, ID
Public Art
2015-2019
Art Currents, Coeur d’Alene, ID
