Bio

Artist Statement

I have had a lifelong fixation with paper. In early childhood my father taught me how to fold paper airplanes. From that knowledge I became absorbed in origami, which eventually led to kirigami--precise paper cutting and folding.

Recently I discovered Scherenschnitte (pronounced shair-en-shnit-teh), which is created by precision cutting on black paper then backed with white paper. In Germany and Pennsylvania it was a popular folk art in the 1800s.

I tend to draw my inspiration from dark subject matter and things that happen to be of interest to me at the moment. Presently I am using Scherenschnitte to continue my study of horror, monsters, and death.

"Quaternity of Death" was my very first Scherenschnitte piece. I consider it to be an exploration of the many ways in which we can reach Death-symbolized by the central figure of the Grim Reaper. Death points to the the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, who each dominate one of the four corners of the piece.

"Lord, Your Children Are Having Sex With Spiders!" was inspired by the ranting of a religious fanatic on the streets of Seattle. To this day I swear I heard him utter the phrase that is my title!

With each piece I like to challenge myself artistically. On "Florida's Electric Chair" I wanted to portray a sense of depth, as well as experiment with re-creating woodgrain. I also chose to have the chair pointing at the viewer--inviting them to have a seat! In the seat of the chair I cut the woodgrain to eventually resemble faces, as if to pay homage to the many souls who passed through.

"W Crucifixion" is the first of a 3 piece series that will be entitled "All Big Things Must Come To An End" a.k.a. Crucifixion of Major Corporate Symbols. Our beloved 'W' offers huge tax breaks to these corporations, and recently pushed legislation to make it harder for citizens to file class action lawsuits against corrupt corporations.

I am the former Brian Seefeldt of Marinette, Wisconsin.