This piece is the second in a series of doors, which I use as a metaphor pertaining to people or events that are important to me. The Rusty Hinge represents those that refuse to give way because they have the power to do so. Often the door will not yield because people exercise their authority to obstruct progress rather than give way to new ideas. Many individuals give up banging on the door that will not open. Our lives are full of obstacles and we have to pick and choose our battles. Some feel it is not worth confrontation with the obstinate. In this piece the door has decayed, the hinges have rusted, and what is left of the soul can no longer prevent progress. Like so many that will not change, they eventually must give way.

This the first in the Door Series. This image was based on a dream I had when I was about seven years old. In the dream my father was working in our basement at his table saw. From behind him, large arms came out of a door and grabbed my father. I ran and was certain that whatever got may dad was chasing after me. Most children have a fear of monsters and dark basements. This piece reminds me of those fears and also of my late father

My goal was to build the door to make it look like it was coming forward in space. To do this I took straight boards and cut them to have a curved edge. I then glued them together and added cross planks to enhance the bulging affect. Arms were formed with plaster gauze material, chicken wire, and threaded rods. These are mounted through the doors and bolted in place.

I like the idea of working three dimensionally and coming off the surface of my work. I experimented with this technique early on with small portraits and one sculptural piece. I later learned how important Vaseline was to prevent having hair embedded in plaster and later pulled out of friends arms. This piece was very successful in both accomplishing what I set out to do visually, and solidly constructed.