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The discovery
of DNA happened as I was completing a major in biology at Whitman
College in Walla Walla Washington. Since my interest was in natural
history, I was already obsolete. That was 1963. Still interested
in the environment I went back to the school of architecture
at the University of Idaho in the 1970's. I felt that people
had lost sight of how the natural and built environments may
interact in a positive way. I graduated again in 1980. Unable
for financial reasons to complete the internship required for
aspiring architects, I joined industry for the next fifteen plus
years.
Working for
a factory proved to be a whole new experience. There aren't any
factories in all of those wide open spaces of my youth. As fate
would have it the factory into which I was pouring my life had
this wonderful, special place called "the weld shop".
At last in the early 1990's I had no choice but to go to the
local vo-tech center and start welding. And that's what I've
been doing ever since. In June of 1997, I left W. H. Porter,
Inc. to do art full time.
Abstract -
Square Plates & Tubes -
The work is purely abstract. It is a study in positive space
using squares.
Abstract -
Open Squares -
The work is
purely abstract. It is a study in the interaction of positive
and negative space using open squares. Typically I do not name
my abstract work. Viewers often see something very different
than what I had in mind when I made it. I don't want to bias
their reception or the pleasure they may derive by figuring out
for themselves what they think it represents. For example the
first piece I had in the Rose Garden was a series of circles
attached to three vertical spikes. Most people saw it as "bubbles"
or "something" sailing upward. However, some saw it
as a "wild mountain stream" or "something"
rushing downward. If I had determined by giving it a title what
I wanted observers to see that wonderful freedom to interact
with the piece would have evaporated.
2006 ADDENDUM:
I make art because I have to. Thoughts evolve as I dream of the
natural and built
environments and how they might enhance each other. Sometimes
the results lean toward Mother Nature and sometimes they are
meant to complement Her. Many ideas frolic without particular
meaning but a few are very serious.
I think in terms of cutting through space, blocking space, and
what the results will be.
Sometimes I see the object, sometimes it’s the space around
the object but usually a
combination of the two.
I like bright colors. Steel is a marvelous medium. Strong and
pliable, it speaks to me. If I work it, respect it, and treat
it gently, it will reward me by telling my story to others as
well. If people walk around, rub, and climb all over my work
I consider it a success. It means that they have connected with
it. It is talking to them. I abhor the thought of public art
that you are not supposed to touch.
REGARDING THE "FAMILY OF MAN IV" sculpture now on permanent
display:
"This sculpture represents mankind; the fact that we do
emerge from the Mother of ALL,
Earth; and when our Lives are finished we return to Her. The
whole creation is cut from a
single piece of steel plate representing Earth. Each human form
moves away from Earth. All of the forms intermingle, an outer
curve of one becoming an inner curve of another and all such
that they can recombine and fall back into place once again forming
the original plate.
The larger figures in the back represent maturity, wisdom, and
experience. Youth is
represented by the smallest figure, which is cut from the inner
thighs of a larger figure. This small figure is pushed forward.
It is moving toward the future unaware that those in the background
are looking out protectively and helping it along the way.
In the same plane as the background is yet another emerging form
not yet defined but also cut from the negative space of a larger
form. It represents life in its embryonic state preparing to
launch. Interestingly some people have interpreted this form
as a tombstone denoting a figure returning to its place of origin.
If it actually represents both it becomes the key component of
the piece illustrating the cyclical nature of our existence tying
us from the present to both the future and the past.
The sculpture is called Family of Man IV simply because there
are four figures in this
presentation. It is part of a larger series called The Family
of Man.
2007 ADDENDUM:
I grew up in the West, Montana and Wyoming. The West is where
there are so few
people that everyone counts. It is also where one is inclined
to be more in tune with
ones own natural environment because one is closer to it. The
ho rizon there is
chiseled out against the sky. Lines are sharp. Space is forever.
Colors are strong. I
believe that all of this influences my art.
In my work I dream of natural and built environments and how
the y might interact.
Sometimes the results lean toward Mother Nature and sometimes
they are meant to
complement Her. Many ideas frolic without particular meaning
but a few are very
serious.
I think in terms of cutting through space, blocking space, and
what the results might
be. Sometimes I see the object, sometimes it’s the space
around the object but
usually a combination of the two.
Steel is a marvelous medium. Strong and pliable, it speaks to
me. If I work it,
respect it, and treat it gently, it will reward me by telling
my story to others as well. If
people walk around, touch and occasionally climb my work, I consider
it a success.
It means they have connected with it. It is talking to them.
Ms. McKean’s sculptures can be seen at the Button Gallery. |
