DOUG CANNELL STATEMENT & BIO
STATEMENT
When it comes to developing ideas for my work, I have come to trust — even embrace — my subconscious. My best ideas come without me “trying”; they arise from a place that I don’t fully understand, from dreams, daydreams, and just letting my mind wander. My mind produces the seed of an idea that remains mysterious to me until I explore it. Only as I produce a piece does its meaning become clear to me.
I rarely set out to produce art “about” anything. I have little interest in using my artwork to convince anybody of anything, or make social or political statements. My pieces are about energy, balance (or the lack thereof), snapshots of motion, contrasts of the organic and the industrial, precision, and the “accidental” beauty that some functional objects hold for me. Some of my pieces use the visual cues of an engineered device, but “do” nothing. Ultimately, my goal is to create fascinating and beautiful objects that connect with people on a visceral level, pieces that elicit an emotional response and not necessarily an intellectual one.
MY CURRENT SERIES
A tree is a wild thing. We try our best to civilize it by chopping it down and sectioning it into the geometric shapes we call lumber, but a rich organic beauty persists within even the lowliest pine board. In this series, I take that “lumber” and coax it into shapes and objects that are more evocative of its original personality and home.
BIO
Doug Cannell is an award-winning sculptor whose works have been exhibited in museums and art galleries throughout the United States. He was born in Detroit, Michigan USA, where he continues to work from his studio. His sculpture is almost entirely abstract. He began working predominantly in clay, and then steel, and most recently has worked primarily in wood. While his choice of materials has evolved, an aesthetic throughline is present in his practice which often blurs the lines between art, craft and design.