Artist Award/Mixed Media -
Nontraditional Materials
Tom Duncan
Page 39

In creating his complex sculptures, New Yorker Tom Duncan's goes the route opposite of technology. Duncan uses found objects - everything from wood and metal salvaged from the hoppers on the street to furniture. As an art student in the 1960's, he had always favored traditional methods and styles, even though his teachers were touting Abstract Expressionism. In particular, he says he loved sculpting figures but found traditional methods to be too time-consuming. "I reached a point when I was doing the figures," he says, "where I was very happy, but I always felt that something was missing. " He wanted a medium that would allow him to utilize his carpentry skills, and he wanted to use materials such as wood - but not for carving. " the idea of adding - that's what I like about clay. After a couple of years of being out on my own, I realized that I wanted to do something with wood and construction, " he says.

Duncan saw a show of Joseph Cornell's boxed assemblages and says they were a "strong influence" on his work. "I liked the idea of using something that already existed, that already had a use and a function, " he explains. Occasionally, he also incorporates electricity into his pieces: In a sculpture based on Coney Island, and amusement park in Brooklyn, New York. Duncan rigged the Ferris wheel so it would turn. Other sculptures even  have their own internal lighting. "the light is part of the color scheme of the artwork, " he says.

As the artist found out, you have to be prepared for untraditional responses if you're going to work with untraditional responses if you're going to work with untraditional materials. Apparently some viewers can't quite grasp the concept of sculptures made from found objects. Says Duncan. "They actually think that I found the entire sculpture!"