Artist's StatementI love carving. I love creating, being in the flow. After spending many years learning skills, techniques and traditions, then many more practicing, exploring and experimenting with them, I finally feel free. I can truly let go of the steering wheel, so to speak, and just go. Sometimes I have a plan, sometimes whatever material I have in my hands speaks louder. At the very best of times a piece of wood or fossil ivory will jump out at me, demand my attention right now, and I'm off. No clue as to what's inside. I begin to remove material and it begins to reveal itself. I don't understand it, but I do have total faith, awe and respect for the gift. I have to say that it's kind of hard to take a lot of credit for a piece like that. I am filled with gratitude for this life that I find myself in. Over the years I have found myself moving farther and farther away from the traditional Northwest Coast Native style art that was my early inspiration and training, and yet I feel it's influence in everything I do. I would like to acknowledge my respect for and appreciation of these great artists and their art form and express my thanks for their teachings and their friendship. I hope all of my work reflects this. My continuing artistic journey into the broader realm of figurative sculpture was spearheaded by my longtime interest in doll making and puppetry. By combining my carving skills with my earlier work in fiber arts, I started with a somewhat traditional approach to doll making and have moved into what I now describe as free form figurative sculpture, In other words, anything goes. Relying heavily on found objects to guide me along this path I am moving into new places artistically. I find it thrilling. Nothing is safe from my clutches for possible incorporation into a future sculpture. I see body parts everywhere I look. Using found objects from nature, antique stores and elsewhere, then combining them with the color and texture of fiber arts, adding a variety of carved materials from hard woods to fossil ivory and somehow turning this merry mix into figurative sculptures is a dream come true. 
Debi Knight Kennedy
PO Box 931 Haines, Alaska 99827 1-907-766-3572 (toll free) dkk@debiknightkennedy.com Site design by Bear Star Web Design, Haines Alaska |
