What does it take to reclaim oneself through making?
A trace through void, scar, and spiral
24 pieces
5 qualities
0 questions
5 conversations
The question assumes reclamation is something you do. The wood knows better. Reclamation is something that happens to you while you're trying to make something else.
Scar taught me this. Box elder from a family member's yard, already half-rotted when the chainsaw found it. The red flame inside—that pink and gray fever dream of fungus and beetle damage—was the tree reclaiming itself from death long before I showed up. When the rim broke on the lathe, I could have walked away. Instead I cut into the break, made the wound wider. The scar became the piece. Sometimes reclamation looks like leaning into what's already broken.
Ray came from the opposite problem: a perfect square block of clay with no history, no damage, no voice. Just me and my fear of the blank. As it dried under my wire loops, little squiggles peeled away. I pressed them into a ball that looked like a pit bull's head—an inverse Ray, the negative space made solid. Autonomy isn't about control. It's about finding what wants to happen and following it there.
The spirals tell the rest. Scroll, Shell, Birdseye—each one an accumulation of indecisions that became a form. I didn't know how to make a spiral when I started cutting grooves into that first pear wood egg. Each cut suggested the next. By the time I understood what I was making, I'd already made it. Becomingness happens in the groove, not the plan.
Orb holds all three truths at once. Dogwood gifted my first night of sculpture class, its central rot making it almost impossible to turn. That rot became the void—not despite the difficulty but because of it. The sphere shape was my attempt to return wood to its essence, to undo all our straight lines and hard edges. The void refused total control. Good.
Here's what it takes: You follow the damage where it wants to go. You make the wound wider when that's what's true. You accumulate small decisions until they spiral into form. You let the material have its say—fungus, beetle, rot, and all. You discover that the pit bull head made from your discarded squiggles might be more honest than the piece you planned.
Reclamation isn't restoration. It's recognition. The wood was already itself, damage and all. I just had to get stupid enough to see it.
Graph Query Results
{
"question": "What does it take to reclaim oneself through making?",
"pieces": [
{
"name": "Scroll",
"props": {
"commonName": "Scroll",
"orientation": "tumbles",
"dateCreated": "October 2024",
"ownership": "Kept.",
"veseryNote": "Made during a class taught by Vesery, the artist who pioneered this approach to turning and carving. Scroll was the first piece from the class — a learning piece. Birdseye and Shell followed as stronger works. The class focused on form, proportion, and representation, starting with turning eggs (deceptively hard primitive shapes), then carving, burning, inking, and dry-brushing color.",
"classLocation": "Studios of Trent Bosch, Fort Collins, Colorado",
"finish": "Oil, shellac, and wax",
"type": "wood sculpture",
"story": "I didn't know how to make a spiral. So I just started cutting, following the curve, letting each groove suggest the next. By the time I stopped, the indecision had become a form.",
"dimensions": "Smaller than an egg — started from an egg blank",
"status": "Complete. Still in artist’s possession."
},
"materials": [
"pear"
],
"qualities": [
"becomingness"
],
"elements": [
"spiral",
"groove"
]
},
{
"name": "Boule",
"props": {
"type": "hollow form",
"commonName": "Boule"
},
"materials": [
"burl"
],
"qualities": [],
"elements": [
"void",
"closed form"
]
},
{
"name": "Scar",
"props": {
"commonName": "Scar",
"process": "Turned on lathe (hollow form), then broke at rim. Cut into the break rather than repairing. Subtractive response to damage.",
"intentionality": "The hollow form was intentional; the scar was an improvised response to breakage that became the defining feature",
"visualReadings": "Lightning bolt, shark’s tooth",
"colorDetail": "Red interior is natural box elder \"flame\" — the tree’s response to rot, fungal infection, and insect damage. Pink and gray spalting on exterior. The color is literally damage made visible.",
"type": "hollow form",
"dateCreated": "Winter 2024-2025",
"ownership": "Gifted to a friend. Difficult to part with.",
"finish": "Walnut oil, shellac, buffed with carnauba wax",
"originStory": "Box elder salvaged from a family member’s home — a tree coming down, cut with a chainsaw after it fell. While turning on the lathe, the piece broke at the rim due to rot. Instead of reshaping or abandoning it, leaned into the break and cut into it — the scar is literal. The name came from the event.",
"materialSource": "Salvaged from a family member’s downed box elder tree, cut with chainsaw on site",
"dimensions": "~8 x 6 inches",
"status": "Complete. No longer in artist’s possession — owned by a friend."
},
"materials": [
"box elder"
],
"qualities": [
"reclamation"
],
"elements": [
"void",
"natural edge",
"open form"
]
},
{
"name": "Cedar",
"props": {
"type": "hollow form",
"commonName": "Cedar"
},
"materials": [
"cedar"
],
"qualities": [],
"elements": [
"void",
"natural inclusion"
]
},
{
"name": "Tulip",
"props": {
"type": "hydrocal sculpture",
"commonName": "Tulip"
},
"materials": [
"hydrocal"
],
"qualities": [
"autonomy"
],
"elements": [
"intentional cut",
"closed form"
]
},
{
"name": "Bird",
"props": {
"type": "stone sculpture",
"commonName": "Bird"
},
"materials": [
"soapstone"
],
"qualities": [],
"elements": []
},
{
"name": "Cobra",
"props": {
"commonName": "Cobra",
"process": "Subtractive carving from a poured HydroCal blank (bucket mold, slightly conic section)",
"dateCreated": "January-February 2026",
"nameOrigin": "Discovered by turning piece on edge; one view among many possible readings",
"finish": "Mop n Glo sealant, then matte white wall primer. No color — shadows tell the story.",
"namingNote": "Cobra is a working common name, not a final title. The piece holds multiple readings simultaneously (cobra, seed, others) and abstraction is the point — naming would collapse those possibilities.",
"intentionality": "unplanned — form emerged through solving sculptural problems",
"type": "hydrocal sculpture",
"originStory": "Emerged from process, not preconceived. The cobra hood feature came from a practical decision—an indentation at the high point of the blank to pull the form together. The name came after turning the piece on edge and seeing a cobra, though it is not intentionally representational. Also reads as a seed form from other orientations.",
"surfaceIntent": "Abstraction through uniform matte white; form communicates entirely through light and shadow",
"dimensions": "~8 x 6 x 4 inches",
"status": "Form complete; awaiting final matte white primer finish"
},
"materials": [
"hydrocal"
],
"qualities": [],
"elements": [
"closed form"
]
},
{
"name": "Bouquet",
"props": {
"type": "stone sculpture",
"commonName": "Bouquet"
},
"materials": [
"soapstone"
],
"qualities": [],
"elements": [
"open form"
]
},
{
"name": "Shell",
"props": {
"commonName": "Shell",
"orientation": "tumbles",
"type": "wood sculpture",
"story": "Scroll's sibling. Another spiral born from indecision, another accumulation of choices. The tighter coil and the visible terminus suggest a journey that found its end. Arrival after wandering."
},
"materials": [
"pear"
],
"qualities": [
"becomingness"
],
"elements": [
"spiral",
"groove"
]
},
{
"name": "Orb",
"props": {
"commonName": "Orb",
"orientation": "on base",
"dateCreated": "Spring 2023 (approximate)",
"shape": "sphere",
"feature": "void",
"finish": "shellac and hard wax",
"type": "wood sculpture",
"originStory": "Dogwood was a gift from the sculpture studio owner on the artist’s very first night of sculpture class. The owner had a tree taken out and saved the wood but had too much for his own purposes. When he learned the artist was a woodworker, he offered some. Three chunks were taken. The rot in the middle of this piece made it difficult to work with — and that rot became the void.",
"materialSource": "Gifted by sculpture studio owner, first night of class. Salvaged dogwood from a tree removed from the studio owner’s property.",
"story": "I tried to make the wood into a hard geometric shape. We experience wood in straight lines and hard shapes—tables and chairs. So it almost seemed like a return to the log to make a sphere from it. The natural void breaches the geometry, refusing total control.",
"dimensions": "~4 inches round",
"status": "Complete. Still in artist’s possession."
},
"materials": [
"dogwood"
],
"qualities": [
"becomingness",
"reclamation"
],
"elements": [
"void",
"closed form"
]
},
{
"name": "Bear Claw",
"props": {
"commonName": "Bear Claw",
"orientation": "base",
"type": "stone base",
"story": "The stone is hard and jagged when I got it, but it wants to be soft like a river ran over it a hundred million times. I did the river's work in the studio."
},
"materials": [
"alabaster"
],
"qualities": [
"resistance"
],
"elements": [
"open form",
"base"
]
},
{
"name": "Box Elder",
"props": {
"type": "hollow form",
"commonName": "Box Elder"
},
"materials": [
"box elder"
],
"qualities": [],
"elements": [
"void",
"natural inclusion"
]
},
{
"name": "Autumn",
"props": {
"commonName": "Autumn",
"dateCreated": "Summer 2023",
"ownership": "Kept. One of the artist’s favorites.",
"viewingNote": "Passages referencing \"Autumn (2)\" describe a different view/orientation of the same sculpture, not a separate piece.",
"nameOrigin": "Named after the figure model present during the sculpture class. The piece was not intended to represent her, but ended up resembling a female form — her presence inspired the work unconsciously.",
"finish": "Mop n Glo sealant. May get primed matte white if it goes well.",
"type": "clay sculpture",
"processNotes": "Subtractive. Carved from hardened clay block left behind by another artist.",
"story": "It was a hardened piece of clay someone left behind at the studio, with finger marks where a person grabbed hunks of it to make something. My instructor, seeing me struggle with additive, asked me to take a tool and try subtracting from a big, hard, square block. After seeing my outcome she said, 'stick with this; you tried additive, it wasn't for you. Only 1 of 5 people can work subtractive.' The first time my hands found their native process.",
"dimensions": "~7 x 4 x 5 inches",
"status": "Complete. Still in artist’s possession."
},
"materials": [
"hardite clay"
],
"qualities": [
"becomingness"
],
"elements": []
},
{
"name": "Oak",
"props": {
"type": "hollow form",
"commonName": "Oak"
},
"materials": [
"oak"
],
"qualities": [],
"elements": [
"void"
]
},
{
"name": "Locust",
"props": {
"type": "bowl",
"commonName": "Locust"
},
"materials": [
"locust"
],
"qualities": [
"becomingness"
],
"elements": [
"groove",
"open form"
]
},
{
"name": "Pheasant",
"props": {
"commonName": "Pheasant",
"orientation": "vertical",
"process": "Off-center turning on lathe, then refined with rasps and files. Not carved from an egg.",
"nameOrigin": "The final form resembles a proud bird’s breast, suggesting a pheasant",
"intentionality": "Experimental — exploring off-center turning technique",
"type": "wood sculpture",
"dateCreated": "2023",
"ownership": "Kept.",
"finish": "Likely linseed oil wax (Tried n True). Shiny.",
"originStory": "An experiment in off-center turning, likely inspired by Derek Weidman. The blank was mounted off-center on the lathe to create the basic shape, then rasps and files refined it into the proud bird’s breast form.",
"materialSource": "Salvaged from a signmaker’s shop basement cleanout. Artist helped clean out the space and kept scrap wood of various kinds.",
"dimensions": "~5 inches tall, just under 3 inches wide",
"status": "Complete. Still in artist’s possession."
},
"materials": [
"honduran rosewood"
],
"qualities": [],
"elements": [
"closed form"
]
},
{
"name": "Ray",
"props": {
"commonName": "Ray",
"type": "clay sculpture",
"processNotes": "Subtractive. Carved from a completely square block.",
"story": "We did a subtractive workshop where I stated my fear was starting with a completely square block of clay—and that's where Ray came from. The blank block offered nothing—no history, no voice, no partner. I had to generate alone. As the clay dried out it became more useful to me and my tools. I could peel off little squiggly pieces with a wire loop. I took all the squiggles and pressed them into a ball. It ended up looking like the head of a pit bull. In a weird way the pitty is an inverse of Ray."
},
"materials": [
"clay"
],
"qualities": [
"autonomy"
],
"elements": []
},
{
"name": "Sinead",
"props": {
"commonName": "Sinead",
"orientation": "tumbles",
"type": "stone sculpture",
"story": "Two faces of one identity. The piece changes depending on the angle, the viewer, the light. Identity as relational, not fixed."
},
"materials": [
"alabaster"
],
"qualities": [
"becomingness"
],
"elements": [
"spiral",
"closed form"
]
},
{
"name": "Lion",
"props": {
"commonName": "Lion",
"orientation": "horizontal",
"dateCreated": "Spring 2023 (approximate)",
"ownership": "Still in artist’s possession. Personally significant as the threshold piece — meaningful to the artist, not intended for others.",
"finishNote": "Gold finish is a deliberate reference to the Cannes Golden Lion — a joke for the artist’s friends in marketing.",
"finish": "Metallic gold paint",
"type": "clay sculpture",
"processNotes": "Additive. Hand-built.",
"story": "My first sculpture piece. I'd been turning bowls for a while but that was the first time fingers met clay. I thought I'd immediately be better-than-average at it. I was wrong. Clay humbled me. The piece that taught me what I didn't want to make.",
"dimensions": "On a platform roughly 8 inches square",
"status": "Complete"
},
"materials": [
"clay"
],
"qualities": [],
"elements": []
},
{
"name": "Birdseye",
"props": {
"commonName": "Birdseye",
"orientation": "tumbles",
"type": "wood sculpture",
"processNotes": "Rough turned on lathe, carved spiral with foredom and rotary burrs, refined with rasps and files."
},
"materials": [
"birdseye maple"
],
"qualities": [
"becomingness"
],
"elements": [
"spiral",
"groove"
]
},
{
"name": "Bug Holes",
"props": {
"type": "hollow form",
"commonName": "Bug Holes",
"story": "The insect tunnels aren't mine—they're history, decay, the life that passed through before I arrived. I honored them by letting them stay. The piece is co-authored by beetles and years."
},
"materials": [
"spalted wood"
],
"qualities": [
"belongingness"
],
"elements": [
"void",
"natural inclusion"
]
},
{
"name": "Wing",
"props": {
"commonName": "Wing",
"carvingDetail": "The wing shape emerged from carving a V down the center of the hollow form, splitting the \"breast\" and exposing grain. The wing formed from there — not preconceived.",
"process": "Turned on lathe as hollow form, then carved. The piece was driven by interest in combining carving with turning.",
"nameOrigin": "The wing shape revealed itself through the carving process. Name came from what the form became.",
"intentionality": "Experimental — more interested in applying carving to a form than in the hollow form itself",
"type": "hollow form",
"dateCreated": "September 2025 (approximate)",
"ownership": "Still in artist’s possession.",
"finish": "Walnut oil only. No shellac or wax yet.",
"originStory": "Salvaged oak found on the side of the road near the artist’s gym — trainer told him about it. Oak isn’t a lovely turning wood, so it started as an experiment. The real interest was in applying carving to a turned form rather than making another hollow form.",
"materialSource": "Roadside salvage near gym, tipped off by trainer",
"dimensions": "~6 inches wide at widest, 6 inches tall. Conic shape, squat.",
"status": "Form complete. Finish may be developed further."
},
"materials": [
"red oak"
],
"qualities": [],
"elements": [
"void",
"open form"
]
},
{
"name": "Comet",
"props": {
"type": "stone base",
"commonName": "Comet",
"orientation": "base"
},
"materials": [
"alabaster"
],
"qualities": [],
"elements": []
},
{
"name": "Commission",
"props": {
"commonName": "Commission",
"orientation": "on base",
"shape": "sphere",
"type": "wood sculpture"
},
"materials": [
"japanese maple"
],
"qualities": [],
"elements": []
}
],
"qualities": [
{
"name": "becomingness",
"description": "The quality of being in passage between states. Not before, not after—during.",
"pieces": [
"Scroll",
"Shell",
"Orb",
"Autumn",
"Locust",
"Sinead",
"Birdseye"
]
},
{
"name": "autonomy",
"description": "The quality of self-governance, of originating from within rather than being imposed from without.",
"pieces": [
"Tulip",
"Ray"
]
},
{
"name": "resistance",
"description": "The quality of pushing back, refusing to yield, maintaining shape under pressure.",
"pieces": [
"Bear Claw"
]
},
{
"name": "reclamation",
"description": "The quality of returning to yourself after being lost or taken.",
"pieces": [
"Scar",
"Orb"
]
},
{
"name": "belongingness",
"description": "The quality of fitting, of being necessary to the whole, of not being removable without loss.",
"pieces": [
"Bug Holes"
]
}
],
"questions": [],
"conversations": [
{
"id": "2026-01-31-vocabulary",
"summary": "Defined and refined the formal elements of the visual language: spiral, groove, void, natural edge, intentional cut, open/closed form, base, natural inclusion. Established their meanings and how they combine.",
"themes": null,
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},
{
"id": "2026-01-31-philosophy",
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},
{
"id": "2026-01-31-piece-analysis",
"summary": "Reviewed all 26 pieces. Documented origin stories for key works (Lion, Autumn, Ray, Orb/Bear Claw). Ranked pieces by how fully they embody becomingness, autonomy, resistance, reclamation.",
"themes": null,
"subjectType": null,
"subjectName": null
},
{
"id": "2026-01-31-graph-concept",
"summary": "Conceived the graph database as a new form—not blog, not portfolio, but queryable practice. Explored shareable queries as distribution model. Defined what nodes and edges would capture.",
"themes": null,
"subjectType": null,
"subjectName": null
},
{
"id": "2026-01-31-technical",
"summary": "Researched Neo4j MCP server, Aura free tier, Query API. Designed schema: Piece, Material, Tool, FormalElement, Ness, Concept, Conversation. Defined relationship types and properties.",
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"relationship": "MEANS",
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{
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}
],
"timestamp": "2026-02-16T22:03:45.931Z"
}