Artist's Statement

Technique

The process for the purses is a little different from the masks, akin more to a limited edition hand rubbed leather monoprint. I begin by sculpting a low bas -relief image in clay which I will eventually cast into a harder casting compound. These are the forms over which I press and burnish each wet bag individually, using both fingers and burnishing tools, until the impression emerges, a fraction of an inch at a time. Although molded over the exact same forms, no two faces are identical because each piece of leather is completely different - even before I begin to mold it. Some of that difference is caused by what part of the body any one bag is made from, some from the unique history of each cow which is written in its skin. On one bag the leather will be stretchy, on another dense or fibrous, porous or grainy; sometimes two or three qualities are present in one bag. Each type of leather requires a different approach in order for the features to emerge and that means really getting to know the leather and giving each bag individual attention over and over again. This is the reason that a machine will never be able to do what my trained eyes and hands can do. After the image is finished, it is literally baked in with just enough heat to harden the leather without drying out the natural oils. The active phase of the molding/drying process takes anywhere from 30 minutes to one and a half hours after which time each purse spends overnight in a dehydrator. Finally the purse is ready to be airbrushed with leather dyes, hand waxed and buffed in the tradition of fine leather work.