Addressing the themes of origin, space, matter and life, Michael DeLeon casts clay, salvages wood, and forges steel, copper and bronze. Sensing a creative force in the universe, DeLeon uses physical matter to try to capture spiritual essences, sculpting earth toward sky. Different media, disparate sizes, and divergent matter: DeLeon sees the power of our universe in its life-forms, finds inspiration, and sets his creation.

 In DeLeon’s Genesis Series, Stars are created in organic, non-geometric forms, suggesting the first explosive moments of the universe. Viewing shooting stars as a child, DeLeon was struck by the wonder of the universe. He forges metal and sinks his hands into clay, pushing, pulling, and spontaneously shaping organic forms that echo the vastness and beauty of our universe. The artist’s hands, then, through the stars, gently suggest the malleable process of our grand creation.

 In all of his work, DeLeon revisits, in a sense, the early Paleolithic-era endeavor of capturing history and man’s actions on cave walls. That is, he creates sculpture in both an attempt and an artifact to understanding life and the universe around us. Realizing the strength and vulnerability of human life, his continuing challenge is to capture and be awed by the creative force behind life and the elements around us and to try render this in his art.

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