How long have you been creating?

For as far back as I can recall. It has always been a presence but it was not until about four or five years ago that it became something to focus my life through.

How long have you been creating?

In one form or another, off and on, for most of my life.

I didn't have a remarkable childhood talent, just a desire to do things. When I was approximately 10 years old, I received a Kodak Instamatic camera. I still have some of the photos. They are fuzzy, unfocussed images of my life as a child, records of school field trips, family vacations, pets, and holiday celebrations. Small capsules of time. They help me to remember moments in my life that have long since been packed away in the back of my mind. I guess they were the beginnings of my interest in photography. I later learned to develop & print my own film during my senior year in high school and for several years afterwards worked on my own in the basement of the natural history museum. I continued to pursue it into college, where I earned a B.F.A., and have continued ever since. There have been periods of inactivity in photography when I was working primarily with the woodworking. But it's always been a presence for me.

What is your media of choice?

That's really a hard question to answer. Photography is my first love and given certain circumstances I could work at it full time. But I have a lot of interest in other processes that are so different. Photography is a kind of alchemy, an odd mix of science and magic. Looking through the viewfinder has a way of elevating the ordinary; the act seems to imbue the scene with a special sense of importance. After the moment is captured, it goes through a series of chemical conversions to produce a negative then a print. These are processes generally done in the dark and are more like science than art but the end product can be pure poetry. I've also wanted to paint since I took classes in college, so several years ago I began painting on the photographs, which allows me to combine both of those creative pursuits. On the other hand, the woodworking is a very physical and immediate process where each change is readily apparent. The pieces are more involved and take a certain amount of planning & engineering. When a piece is completed there is a three dimensional presence much like a piece of sculpture, they are functional pieces and can be given special significance or not, depending on how one decides to use it, and these things appeal to me.

What are your motivations for creating?

I think basically, because it pleases me. I enjoy the process even though it can be challenging &/or frustrating at times. I get a certain amount of satisfaction when I complete a piece that I feel has merit. And I suppose there's a part of me that wants to add my insignificant voice to the universe and maybe garner some small measure of immortality or at the very least leave a remnant of myself somewhere out there to move or amuse someone in future years. I think being creative is a subtle form of communication that feeds some kind of basic need.

What other artists or movements inform your work?

Minor White, Joseph Cornell, Edward Hopper, Diane Arbus, Edward Weston among many others.

What do you find visually stimulating right now?

Any number of things. I'm especially fascinated by collage and assemblages with layers of textures and materials. I'm also interested in discarded or “found” materials used in new & creative ways.

What's the last book you read?

Unfortunately, I don't have as much time to read as I would like. I've just recently started a book called “Afterlives” It's a collection of short stories exploring the question of life after death written by contemporary science fiction writers.

Woodworking and photography seem to be at opposite ends of the artistic spectrum, yet you've managed to develop a language that translates well between the two. Tell us about how these two diverse media relate for you.

I think the simplest answer would be that they're just two sides of the same coin. They both reflect my point of view, and certain aspects of my personality. The woodwork is overall, more indicative of my sense of humor and physical involvement with the process; the tactile quality of working with the wood is a more external experience and probably represents the more open aspects of my personality. The photography has more to do with my internal, intuitive thought processes and because of that is more personal for me. The photographs I take are wordless explorations of any number of obscure thoughts that drift through my subconscious. Kinda like my own private or secret language.

What would you like your fellow EBSQ artists and our collectors to know about you and/or your work?

I think it's important to note that the boxes, cabinets and shrines are functional pieces and are meant to be used, but because of the mixed-media approach to construction some of the pieces have fragile components and should be handled with care. Each piece is one of a kind. There are a few that I have done and will do multiples of but no two will ever be exactly alike. These aren't meant to be examples of perfection but have a quality of simplicity or primitiveness about them. I'd like to think that many, many years from now they'll still be around, maybe battered, and dirty, with pieces missing, but treasured as some odd remnant from the past. If anyone is interested in learning more about the pieces or processes, please feel free to either email me or visit my website, www.madratstudio.com.