Carey Netherton

My sculptures are the results of conversations I have with the materials I manipulate. They embody my appreciation for formal interactions, as well as my inclination to arrange and order. Much attention is given to the area and means of connection so that the transition is fluid, as if the coupled materials are outgrowths of each other. This resolving of differences between materials and/or objects through cooperative joining results in contradictions being built into the works. The sculptures reach for a sense of purpose at the same moment that their very makeup denies any logical functionality. I see the works as contemplations on the way we humans are of this world but perpetually strive to become part of someplace wholly other through our machinations and imaginings. We are organic creatures which have arisen out of our biological environment. Yet, as thinking, sentient beings we develop industrial and intellectual systems to advance our ability to survive and progress. We continuously struggle to find a balance between our connection to the biological “natural” world and the “unnatural” systems we create. The tension between hybridity and incongruity within my sculptures metaphorically expresses the complexity of the human condition.