Insider's Look At Grand Canyon

My sculpture is a result of a physical process of spontaneous digging and marking in clay with my hands, a blind act of faith. As I work, I create the negative void that is ever present in this life full of ambiguity. Removing my hands, I fill the dark, cold space with materials. Then painstakingly peel away the soft layers of clay on the outside until the solid form is exposed -- like an excavation. The result is an expressive object like a fossil manifestation of the complexity of my desires, fears and expectations. The layers of clay are recycled over and over again as a foundation for more digging and building more sculpture. When my will tries to control the negative space, the outcome takes the form of fierce substances. But when I push with spontaneous marks of bold confidence, a wonderful evolution of probity and consciousness appears. The pinhole photographs are a documentation of the moment of discovering the sculptures in the Arizona landscape. - Kim Henkel