John Reeves

lives and works in Crestone, Colorado, in a house and studio that he designed and built himself. John received his early training in sculpture at the University of Wyoming. And while there he absorbed important lessons about fine workmanship in sculpting stone from Chinese master sculptor, Chi Man Lai.

John Reeves talks about his work

"From one point of view some of what I have been doing with my art is actually related more to dance and architecture than it is to sculpture. Some of my works have multiple and distinct viewing angles that are actually choreographing a dance or specific flow of movement around the object. There are distinct alignments to be found that are only available through deliberate or incidental movement. A dance is enfolded in the structure of the work and is discovered over time. Encoded kinetic patterns are held as potential in these objects.

>"My intention is to enfold a story containing primal structures and their archetypal relationships. This story is danced by way of movement to and through the distinct viewing nodes embedded in the matrix of the carving. The dancing enlivens the stone, the viewers, and the story.

"In a way these works are moving in the direction of a story tellers' mnemonic stick, or perhaps an ephemeralization of initiatory temples. Perennial wisdom is often transmitted through spoken word and literature. I am discovering this knowledge first-hand through the unfolding of these forms. Chartres Cathedral is an initiatory map that a student /initiate "dances" through in a very specific way. My work as well holds such dancing.

"I am intrigued with edges. Edges are the region where a mysterious dance between this and that occurs. The exploration of edges leads to an actual experience of perceptual relativity. In my art I play with perception.  It makes the mind more supple and less intolerant."

John adds:

"If you look at one thing thoroughly enough it becomes evident that it is connected to everything else. This "whole" notion is woven into my work, somehow, by my own hand in a way I can not explain. It is this surprising connectedness that lures me to continue exploring. Often there is a re-cognition of my art by diverse disciplines at diverse depths. Mathematicians, poets, chemists, indigenous elders, physicists, zen masters, linguists, anthropologists have all engaged my work and helped to inform it."