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Artist Statement

In Door-Skin Sculptures, I am pursuing an industrial spareness through exposed wood-and-joinery construction. A working metaphor to describe my objective is that of "stripping-down a couch" — to remove the upholstery and lining in order to expose the underlying, skeletal structure. I like both the directness and open-ended meaning that reduction can impart to form. 

Conceptually, I see this work as referring to contingency and its inherent conflicts — how the things that we "depend" on can also "restrict" us. I am inspired by architectural and mechanical forms because they suggest to me various metaphors of contingency. The use of interior openings — which literally invite viewers to step inside, add an element of playful interaction and physical engagement.

—Robert M. Hopkins