Walter Zurko

Consistent throughout my work has been an interest in the vernacular of tools and implements, specifically those related to agriculture, and the implications of utility and making. Typically I tend to narrow the range of creative options to simplified forms that are essentially organic in nature, abstract, and somewhat ambiguous; yet, retain certain aspects of the source object. This deceptively simple premise has evolved in a number of ways over the years.

Sources for my work are varied and range across the pantheon of art history and material culture. Influences include sculptural and utilitarian objects found in the indigenous art of Africa, Micronesia, and North America; Shaker furniture and woodenware; Japanese folk craft (Mingei); and early American farm implements and devices. I gravitate toward these sources to communicate real concerns and ideas about human nature, as well as issues that inform psychological situations in which we find ourselves embedded. My intent is not to restore or replicate the original object. Instead, I attempt to create a new entity that exists in a metaphorical context yet retains a link with everyday life.