Totem Shriver

The geometric forms that I return to in my carvings & drawings, combined with a sometimes funky wandering line, come from my love of nature, & how that is reflected in indigenous design & ceremony. My eyes see a world of vitality, spirit & endless intrigue in the natural world. In the last few years I have also found an appreciation for jazz, which I find myself listening to exclusively. This influence has definitely brought on a shift in my work. It contributes to the heart of these pieces. I have for some time been very interested in indigenous design & sensibility, especially from Africa & Oceania, as well as the Americas. These cultures all share a pronounced reverence for the natural world & have developed over time, highly stylized imagery to represent it. In making art, I am largely a process person. Working with wood is special in this way, as it is a very sensory media. Some of my carvings have come from trees that I have cut down, sawed into boards, dried, listened to, sketched upon & eventually carved. The connection is strong.
I carve mostly Northwest woods that come from the towns & lands surrounding my home, as well as some recycled timbers. My current body of work is called, Abstract Truth & comes from the idea that in abstracting an object, you use only the lines & forms that speak of the essence of a thing.