I look for Joy, cultivate Faith through the work.

         Some of my inspirational points of departure include, PIETER BRUGEL, CONSTANTIN BRANCUSI, ED KIENHOLTZ, PHILIP GUSTON, ROCKY CALOVITO, JOAN MIRO, DIEGO RIVERA, DICK GREGORY, JEAN COCTEAU, NATURE, CALLIGRAPHY, TOPIARY GARDENS, KAFKA, DOSTOYEVSKY, DEKOONING, DEATH, TIME, JIM BROWN, CHAGALL, LEON GOLUB, GAUDI, HAROLD FEREN, ZORA B,  STUDENTS, ETC. 

In the work I am now engaged in, mostly work in the Public Forum, I am trying to find my role in the community and at the same time, push the limits of work that can operate on many levels.  Often public Art does not have the levels of meaning that can sustain over time.  I am interested in form awkward on some levels but able to transcend its limitations on others.  I am interested in work that is physically and historically rooted yet speaks to the spirit, work that is straight forward, but can operate mysteriously. There are no simple answers to matters of the Heart.  My work is a manifestation of my desire to create work that is accessible, yet sheds light on the complexity of the human condition. 

To one of taste both flawless and robust,
Sculpture, our firstborn art, gives deepest joy,
Showing--face, limbs- a livelier girl or boy
In clay, wax; marble than our eyes detect.
Although sour grudging time, that feeds on wrack,
Maims and dismembers, gnawing flesh and bone,
Beauty endures- art salvages alone
For heaven's retrieval our fumbling with the dust.
        Poem by Michelangelo

http://www.steveferen.com