Chris Hedly

In Chris' own words:

My personal philosophy is that the art should be fun. I remember walking through a museum with my grandmother and she kept asking me what the meaning of the art was - I could not come up with answers that she liked, which made me really think. I started to notice that I gravitated to art that I thought had vitality. I often could not explain why I liked the art; it was like asking for an explanation of an emotion. So for me, if art is emotion, the emotions that I choose to explore are happiness and exhilaration. 

I have started to patina and verdigris the metal surfaces of my sculptures to suggest age and give them a beautiful blue green color. Another method that I have been experimenting with since 2000 is to grow rocks and wire sculptures into trees. Over time the trees start to embrace and swallow the wire. It is truly interesting to witness the passing of time in this way. My current work is a series of mixed media bugs that have been constructed with wire and found objects. I enjoy using found objects in my sculptures because it creates a visual game of hide and seek with the viewer. In addition to my philosophy that art should be fun is  the idea of trying to bring together all of my interests and passions. A future direction that I will pursue is combining my interests for rocks and plants. I envision an interesting interplay of the green-blue patina of copper and the natural textures and colors of plants and stones.    Chris' Gallery