MARK DICKSON, SCULPTOR-PAINTER
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
My sculpture is my passion; a desire to express beauty, excitement and emotion on a visual level. Through the use of form, negative space, and abstract suggestion, I strive to achieve dramatic shapes, sculpting not only the object alone, but the space it will occupy. I work in an improvisational way allowing my ideas to be expressed during the intense process of fabrication. I love the way metal can be manipulated and joined to create fluid contours and tangible forms, though it is cold and hard, with the proper persuasion the steel becomes warm and alive.
ARTIST'S BIOGRAPHY
Dickson's grandmother set the early example: she was a collector of art and a museum docent. She commissioned works by San Francisco abstract sculptor Peter Macchiarini. Dickson was fascinated by these designs. He wanted to know for example, how shapes were contrived. As a young adult he sought jobs that involved creative design and skillful construction, such as landscaping, theatre prop design, and metal fabrication. He began sculpting with steel while attending "Art and Metal Design", a course held at Sierra College in Rockland, CA. under Professor Jim Devore.
Dickson starts with concepts like form, negative space, and abstract suggestion. Then guided by themes like; music, flight, wind, water, machinery, and even personal guardians, he shapes freestanding or pedestal-mounted sculptures. He combines shapes to form a single piece of singular emotional influence. He’s always looking for the perfect shape to achieve that. During assembly, as new shape possibilities emerge, the sculptor experiments with the emerging ideas. The arc of the welder binds it together. The result is a realization of the beauty of the abstract form. His fluid large-scale pieces are appropriate for landscape architecture. His sense of tight design and light abstraction suit the contemporary style, for interiors ranging from compact to expansive.
He draws on knowledge acquired from metal design, fabrication, casting, foundry methods, and blacksmithing. Three influences are; Professors Jim Devore of Sierra College in California, Charles Hook Professor of Sculpture at Florida State University, and Master Craftsman Jerry Grice.
Dickson is a native of northern California and a resident of Tallahassee for eight years, where he has a working studio.
