Artist Statement

It's the splitting ear siren, the blinding beam of the bulb, and the tremble in the turf.  It’s the pure power, the immenseness of iron, and the smack of steel.  It’s the effusion of fumes, the skulking smoke, and the flash of fire that draws us to the tracks. Those twin steel ribbons guide us through our history, our heritage, and our ingenuity. They guide us to the train. The train captivates us.  These upended skyscrapers move with one hundred fifty kilowatts of power at roughly eighty miles per hour.  The modern diesel train has the strength of fifty semi trucks combined with the weight of one hundred elephants. It can pull ten thousand tons of cargo. One can’t help but be bewitched by power that potent. 

A tiny, tender hand stroking the iron wheel of a diesel locomotive was the catalyst for Bend the Iron.  Witnessing the perfect juxtaposition of my sweet son’s small body next to the iron bulk of a retired diesel engine, I understood his enchantment.  I had never truly grasped the allure of trains until I watched him worship that immense iron steed.  I knew this relationship was something I had to capture.  I was unaware of how the hulking beauties would capture me.

I began my study for Bend the Iron in still life.  It was important to me to understand the visual language of locomotive engineering and to energize my pencil with straight and crafted brush and pencil strokes.  My work quickly grew into studies of the toy train, of rail language, of surrealistic trains, and eventually, the human relationship to the train. The locomotive, from toybox to terminal, is my visual metaphor for thought. The colossal and callus locomotive engine externalizes the burdens of wakefulness, the struggles in thought pattern, and the abusive inner voices we hear.  I identify echoing mental scrutinies as a train on a track, looping and omnipotent. The term “bend the iron” is train speak for changing the track’s direction. For me, it means changing tracks of the mind. The underground evolution of my work in this series is belied by  its simplicity.  With the singular focus of “thought trains”, or “trains of thought”, I was able to expand my prowess in applied texture and media utilization. 

The discord of black paint and white paint, pliable and solid, uncomplicated and intricate is visible as well as palpable. Through this work, I would like the viewer to find a vehicle with which to navigate their own thought trains. Changing your track’s direction may feel like derailing a locomotive, but one can Bend the Iron with an iron will.