This series was inspired by a visit in 1984 to the exhibition Primitivism in the 20th Century Art, then on exhibit at the Detroit Institute of Art. I begin each sculture by making objects, usually blown and often sandblasted to a matte finish, and then regroup them together on a base, most commonly an undersized table. These objects or elements usually start as functional objects such as amphoras, bowls, or tools and are transformed though shaping and gesture into personifications of human beings. What appear to be still-lifes can, through the dynamic between elements, be interpreted as family units.