Recurring Forms

Looking back at pieces from the mid-2000s, I notice something I never consciously chose. The same shapes keep appearing: circles and what I've started calling the stadium form — straight sides with half-circles at top and bottom.

I grew up in Gelsenkirchen, in Germany's Ruhr Valley, surrounded by industrial architecture and the geometry of stadiums, factories, and mine infrastructure. These forms got into my bones early. I didn't decide they would be my shapes. They just kept showing up.

Now, after ten years away from the studio, the same forms are reasserting themselves — but differently. The new pieces are built from laminated cardboard coated with cardboard clay, with real depth compared to the earlier flat assemblages. Four inches thick, intended for wall mounting. They'll cast shadows, occupy space in a way the earlier work didn't.

The stadium piece is roughly 10 by 18 inches. A circle piece is also in progress — 24 inches in diameter with a 6-inch center void. Final surface treatment is still undecided. Part of staying open to the work is not deciding everything in advance.

Different materials, different processes, same destination. Some obsessions you choose. Others choose you.