The Lighting
My work in lighting has been ongoing for a significant chunk of my life’s journey. Of course I built many things from the objects I found all over New York City, but I was most passionate about lighting. The way a single bulb could be used to create an entire mood in a room… A single bulb! Exciting!
I mentioned the optimism in my furniture work; this was even more prevalent in my lighting. A mixture of mechanical and playful light dancing around the spaces they lived in conjure joy. Light as experience! Clearly a precursor to the work as it all evolves into what you see on this entire site.
There is plenty of work here, but for a full dedicated site click here
Toilet Chandelier - Construction Junction Event - In Progress
At a point when I had just shifted a tremendous part of my life back home to the The Pittsburgh area, I was invited to be the main event at Construction Junction’s big annual fundraising event. I was given freedom to wander their massive space, full of all kinds of rescued building materials. Of course the toilets spoke to me and the toilet chandelier was conceived.
Items were prepped and assembly happened during the one-day event. Unfortunately final hanging of the assembled chandelier has not yet happened due to concerns about whether their ceilings’ steel beams could support the roughly 500 lb. chandelier. I was expecting to hang it over the summer of 2020 and then COVID-19 hit. As soon as the team is clear to hang it safely, the toilet chandelier will be on display permanently in the Construction Junction space.
Everybody’s Zeus - In Progress
As my work began to grow in scale, I also let myself be consumed by the messages I think my work can contain. I have been anti-corporation for a long time and the larger scale projects almost always require larger entities like corporations to pay for them. Hmm… always a dilemma in the process. The way of an artist.
EVERYBODY’S ZEUS was inspired by the way too many business decisions that affect too many people happen on the golf course. On those courses, it’s usually men that hit balls around in attempts to dominate each other and lean deals increasingly in their own favor. With a golf club in hand and a powerful attitude on the course, too many white men behave like they are god. Like Zeus himself, they believe they control the world! For many it is a rite of passage; for thousands of others, it can further degrade their lives.
With this piece’s suspended scrap wood “cloud” frame and golf clubs flying about, it serves to mock the folly of humanity for allowing global decisions to happen this way. I had the opportunity to show it as a ‘work in progress’ in a performance space to get input and the response was amazing! Completion of this project will happen when it has a designated home to finally permanently hang. We are currently searching for that home space.
Chandeliers
A chandelier is like a tiara for your home!
Pendant Lamps
I see pendant lamps more like jewelry than lighting. I also like to think about the light emitting from them as a dance. The light created by the lamp should fill a space with character.
Floor Lamps
Floor lamps are amazing. A single self standing sculpture that emits light and creates mood and feeling. A floor lamp can be such a statement of art and design. When the creator pays close attention to the pragmatic needs of the user, it can become the most important piece of furniture in a room. I mean – right behind chandeliers. Chandeliers are always the most important!
Table Lamps & Sconces
Table lamps and sconces are like art that emits light. Art for walls or art to place on tables are always fun little bursts of playful energy enhancing a room like jewelry. Even I can’t get enough of the environment and experience my lighting creates!
TRYP Hotel Chandelier Design - PGH
This design was for a new boutique hotel in the trendy Pittsburgh neighborhood of Lawrenceville. The building to be repurposed into the hotel had been an industrial design school. For the focal point of this grand piece, I chose some wooden iron casting forms from the Pittsburgh steel industry that I had just acquired. These wooden ring forms create the base out of which the long fluorescent tube bulbs lunge out from, glowing with that futuristic white light.
Wigle Whiskey Tasting Room Chandelier Design - PGH
Wigle creates a provocative yet playful product and I wanted to use slats of barrels in a similar way. Light through the barrels appears almost animated, gently spreading light through the room like a blossoming plant, acting as an extension of the company’s funky, young, and hip identity.