Dale Shields

Embodied in my work are questions around legacy, experience, memory, and sense of place. Although my work specifically reflects the human experience it encourages us to consider a new reality and a different way of seeing.
To make my work I use large sections of tree trunks and other found wood. My technique for sculpting is to use various electrical and hand held tools to allow me to discover the figure within the tree.
In terms of what has influenced my creativity, philosophy and the emotion behind my sculpting it is my belief system around the human and what I call the source. This is something I am aware of and sculpting helps me to express my beliefs with human life experience and after death in a physical form. A physical way to express a question which we all ask at some point and that is “why are we here and what happens next?”
I have always had a strong interest in art from a very early age which developed into a more 3 dimensional avenue satisfied for many years in furniture and interiors. That has allowed a natural progression for me to now do sculpting which is a passion.
When deciding on my next sculpture I choose a piece of tree or type of tree and then I uncover the figure within it. Within my current body of work that is always the female form as this represents mother earth.