Richard Rothschild -

My objective as an artist is to capture what it means to be alive by attempting to breath life into simplified animal forms in wood. Each animal is shown savoring life to the fullest, creating a moment the viewer can share-a Draft Horse strains in pulling, a Rooster sits on a fence preening, a Pig searches for feed. If not actually in motion, there at least is tension in merely remaining still, as if the animal had been moving a moment before and in another instant will be again.

Why do I choose animals? Unlike humans, animals reduce living to the basic Darwinian struggle to survive- avoiding predators, seeking nourishment, and reproducing. Stripped away are such human frailties as pride, jealousy or cruelty. With animals I can focus on life in it most elemental form.

Why do I choose wood? Wood is virtually the only art medium that itself was once alive, so that in reworking boards into living breathing animals I feel in a sense I am returning life to the dead tree. I often incorporate weathered wood such as old weathered barn siding ( see Horse and Rooster) in order to add the dimension of time. I also employ new wood stained in vivid colors (see Pig).

My style is simple and direct. I try to make the figure take shape effortlessly-a sort of three dimensional sketch with as few lines and forms as possible. Using flat boards cut on straight lines I create an abstract image, often replacing solid volumes with negative space (see Horse), since what is left out can be as important as what is included.

In some cases I enlarge the animal to force a new relationship between beast and human. Where we tend to look down on smaller animals as inferior, the viewer must completely reorient when the same animal is over size. (See Rooster at twice its normal size and raised to eye level on its perch on the simulated fence.)