Object Alchemy

My mixed-media assemblage sculptures draw on the limitless capacity of ordinary objects for expressing the poetic.

I begin by placing and arranging objects together. At some point they go off script and become something unexpected. They visually meld and take shape into novel forms — unbound from utility.

Using household and industrial objects, both common and unusual, my work explores this conceptual pliability. Glass, wood, plastic, rubber, fur, metal and ceramic objects serve as my primary media.

When diverse objects are combined, they play off each other.
I exploit their shapes, colors, textures and material qualities to flesh out my sculptures.

What becomes key to this transformation is the hidden internal engineering required to hold it all together. Balance and counterbalance are leveraged.

Illusory devices make these formations of my unconscious appear as if their components belonged to each other.

These distinctive sculptures, from handheld to life-size, can evoke a variety of associations as unique as the viewer. My intention is to engage their own cultivated power to invent stories and to construct narratives for what they see.


— Lee Hoag

Object Alchemy