The content of my sculpture comes through the process of making - it reveals itself slowly, telling what has been underneath, sometimes in my past. Ultimately, ruminating upon these issues and spitting them out as sculpture, I consider my work to be figurative. Both repulsive and seductive, the scope ranges from the physiology of aging, to the banality of a clogged pore; the intrusiveness of surgery, as well as the pleasure of peeling dried glue from my hands.

Certain elements recur repeatedly: precariousness, transparency, liquids, bodily mechanics and structural space. The view through actual structure creates a movement enveloping and expanding actual space, referencing a youthful interest in architecture. Space defined by a line and the points that intersect it. These intersections become connections reminiscent of my grandmother's clothesline prop swaying in the breeze.

For the last ten years I have used specific sculptural materials: wood, rubber, epoxy resin, lead, plaster and some motorized elements. The refinement inherent in smaller sculptures has led to a deliberate attempt to upset the mixture. The addition of motorization and fans has brought a greater esthetic physicality to the sculpture. Playing Pygmalion, through these mechanics, is a natural step. Not always aware of why a material is chosen until after the `object' is completed - my viscerous response is to the material itself. The plywood while obviously used for structural integrity stems from childhood "forts" built around shrubbery and construction debris. Lining material becomes translucent and mysterious with a layer of resin. The dangerous aspects of lead and rubber returned to mind after building several `water' troughs. Rubber comes in several colors and I chose brown for its ambiguity. Is it ditch water, wax, bodily fluid? Breather, requiring sheet rubber unavailable commercially, led to the handmaking of the material. The most recent work, Plucked, Tucked and Sucked, uses color for the first time in over a decade (pigmented expanding foam). The suspended fulmination of reds and corals are simultaneously animalistic, fecund and cosmetic. That these industrial materials can act as a substitute for flesh is an area I continue to explore.

Education

• 1991 Virginia Commonwealth University, MFA
• 1988 Washington State University, BA

Appointments

• 1994-present University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, Associate Professor
• 1991-1992 University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD, Sabbatical fill

One Person Exhibits

• 1998
  • Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Omaha, NE
  • CSPS, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
  • Mankato State University, Mankato, Minnesota
• 1997
  • University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
  • Buena Vista University, Storm Lake, Iowa
  • Wayne State University, Wayne, Nebraska
• 1996
  • Murray State University, Murray, Kentucky
  • North West Missouri State University, Maryville, MO
  • Notre Dame University, Notre Dame, Indiana
• 1995
  • A.I.R. Gallery, New York, New York
  • Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas

Additional Selected Shows

• "Nine Americans, Essence of Water," Fujiya Corp. Kyoto, Japan
• A.R.C. Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
• A.I.R. Gallery, Affiliates Exhibition, New York, NY
• Sioux City Art Center, Sioux City, Iowa
• "Mo Neal and Susan Harrington," Bemis Center, Omaha, NE
• Gallery 9, Nebraska Arts Council Show, Lincoln, NE
• Sculpture Invitational, Sioux Falls Civic Fine Arts Center
• Bloomington Art Center, Bloomington, Minnesota
• North American Sculpture Exhibition, Golden, CO

Grants, Awards, Honors

• 2000
  • Villa Montalvo Residency, Saratoga, California
• 1997
  • Nebraska Arts Council, Individual Artist Fellowship
• 1994
  • National Endowment for the Arts, Visual Arts Fellowship
  • South Dakota Arts Council, Fellowship Grant
• 1993
  • Bemis Foundation, Alternative Worksites Residency
  • South Dakota Arts Council, Emerging Artist Grant

Memberships and Offices Held

• College Art Association
• International Sculpture Center
• Mid America College Art Association, Board of Directors & President-elect, 2000-2002