Ouroboros

The medium speaks before I begin. Each tree trunk possesses its own inherent beauty and form—a life story written in grain patterns, hidden textures, and natural contours. As a sculptor, my process starts with discovery. I seek to honor the wood's intrinsic character while simultaneously imagining what lies dormant within.

Viewed from another angle, feminine forms appeared, dancing with or perhaps mesmerized by the same serpent. The duality became evident: two fundamentally different relationships with the natural world existing within the same piece.

As I carved deeper, multiple narratives began to emerge. From one perspective, a masculine form materialized, locked in struggle with a serpent—humanity attempting to control nature.

What began as exploration transformed into a meditation on mankind's complex relationship with our environment, both historical and contemporary. The masculine and feminine principles represent contrasting approaches to our existence within nature—domination versus harmony, struggle versus dance.

As the sculpture approached completion, the name "Ouroboros" revealed itself as the perfect embodiment of this work—the ancient symbol of a serpent consuming its own tail, representing the eternal cycle of creation and destruction, the circular nature of consciousness, and our ongoing struggle to find balance with the world that created us.

The serpent stands as one of humanity's most ancient mythological symbols in narratives exploring the evolution of consciousness. Across diverse cultures and throughout history, serpent imagery has addressed themes of duality, good and evil, transformation, rebirth, and our relationship to nature, spirit, and the underworld.

Many of my scuptures are influenced by mythology. They begin with the beauty I find in nature, from which I create images that transform the abstract and concrete into something mystifying. In the case of my sculpture, “Oroborus,” I utilize mythological symbols in stories that explore the struggle of consciousness. Throughout history and cultures of the world, the serpent has been a symbol that addresses themes of duality, good and evil, transformation, rebirth, our relationship to nature, spirit, and the underworld.

My hands work to reveal elements concealed beneath the surface: rippling flesh-like textures just under the bark, marble-smooth surfaces exposing the dense maple heartwood, flowing forms that emerge from the trunk's natural shape. These discoveries guide my imagination forward.