As a young boy growing up in the Bronx in the 1930´s during The Great Depression, I used my imagination to make my playthings. These early years of creativity were the foundation for my future as a sculptor. In 1966 I began taking sculpture classes at The New School for Social Research. For the next seven years I studied sculpture from life with my mentor, Manolo Pascual. In his class I produced figurative clay pieces and carved a great number of stones. I worked in marble, soapstone, alabaster and granite. I sculpted full figures, portrait heads, animals and a variety of abstract pieces. My “Mother and Child” sculpture in serpentine marble won an award at a New School student show.
In 1973 I decided to take a three month study-vacation at the art school of The Instituto de Allende in Mexico. I brought along the sculpture portfolio that I had created at The New School.
Based on the quality of my work at The lnstituto, teachers’ recommendations and my previous body of work in sculpture, I was offered a scholarship to earn my Master’s Degree in Fine Arts . My studies included a complete education in all sculptural media. I developed skills in welded metal, lost wax bronze casting, terracotta, direct plaster, casting and wood carving in addition to stone carving. I also became the director for the student and faculty galleries at The Instituto which profited under my leadership. After receiving my MFA, I returned to New York, where I taught multi-media sculpture at The Emanuel YWHA and then at The Craft Students League. I then became the assistant to Licio lsolani in his New School welding class. Licio then recommend me to teach a welded sculpture class at The Education Alliance, which I taught for the next 22 years. I taught figurative sculpture for Manolo Pascual’s class during a summer semester, and when he retired, I taught multi-media figurative sculpture and stone carving at The New School for the next 21 years.
I found working with my students and helping them develop their artistic skills very gratifying. I’ve found that the more I work, the more I learn—a never-ending process. My eyes are always open and my creativity continues to thrive.
I am currently welding with found steel objects, sculpting table-top scale locomotives, birds, animals and abstract pieces, I am always looking for interesting metal shapes to inspire my next project. Originally, the found metal shapes themselves inspired me. I now fabricate parts to enhance my current pieces. Experience has enabled me to instill more detail into my work, which I believe makes them more interesting.