george lorio

Statement for Pelletized, 61” x 13” x 13”, 2023

A vision of BIOMASS: constructed abstracted tree trunk skinned with an applied surface of purchased corporate produced pellets (chipped, shredded, ground then compressed and extruded through metal die under pressure.)

4” x 21” x 4” Fabricated surface of sliced bark and twigs attached to wooden core, 2023

Twigs and stick attached to constructed plywood armature surrounded by bark hands, 84” x 120” x 120” (Horizontal floor measurement varies with installation), 2018-23

104" x 18.5" x 18.5", found bark mounted on fabricated plywood armature with birch shims, 2023

20” x 15” x 16.5”

Found bark attached to fabricated plywood armature

2022

Found bark attach to a constructed plywood armature

81” x 33” x 14” (Free standing)

2021

47” x 16” x 16” Found twigs, sticks & branches attached to a plywood armature (floor placement)

Found bark and twigs attached to a fabricated armature

16.5” x 21” x 18”

2021

14.25” x 14.5” x 9.5”

Tree bark & twigs attached to constructed wooden armature

2021 (wall mounted)

Found twigs, branches & bark on constructed armature

13” x 17” x 8” Wall mounted

2021

Found twigs, branches & bark on constructed armature

19” x 16” x 8” Wall mounted

2021

Found twigs and bark attached to a constructed armature

2020

58” x 25” x 7.5”

9” x 16” x 10”

Found bark and twigs attached to plywood armature

2022

Found twigs and bark on a constructed armature

2020

9” x 11.5” x 11”

Found twigs and sticks on constructed armature

50” x 25” x 7.5 wall mounted

2020

Found twigs and sticks on a constructed armature, 2020

Found sliced bark attached to a constructed armature

2020

22” x 26” x 18”

Found twigs and sticks on a constructed armature

2020, wall mounted

23.5” x 24”x 8”

Found twigs and sticks on a constructed armature with fabricated vines, floor placement

16” x 12” x 81”

2020

Found twigs and bark on constructed armature

28” x 27” x 6”

2020 Wall mounted

Found twigs and bark on constructed armature

15” x 5.75” x 3.5”

2020 Wall mounted

25” x 26.5” x 7.5”

Found twigs and branches on constructed armature

2019

Like human skin, bark conforms to a tree. Like skin, tree bark heals with scars. The end grain of logs notes the distortions in the growth rings resulting from injury-a callus. It is similar to the swelling around a cut in human flesh.

23” x 29” x 5”

Found Twigs and bark on constructed armature, 2019

Wall mounted

Found twigs and small branches attached to a wooden armature

16” x 15.5” x 16.5”

2019

With increased urbanization, suburbia and inner cities have logs to commemorate the former arboreal landscapes which were the sources for oxygen, mitigation of soil erosion and avian life.

Found twigs and small branches attached to a wooden armature

9.5” x 18” x 28”

2019

With increased urbanization, suburbia and inner cities have logs to commemorate the former arboreal landscapes which were the sources for oxygen, mitigation of soil erosion and avian life.

14.5” x 13.25” x 4”

Found twigs glued to constructed armature

2019

Trees heal themselves…sometimes after we hurt them.

15.5” x 14” x 8.25”

Found twigs glued to constructed armature

2019

Trees heal themselves…sometimes after we hurt them.

Found twigs on fabricated wood armature, 17” x 30.75 x 15”, 2019

The death blow for any tree

Found twigs mounted on constructed armature surrounded by tree bark hand motifs, 7” x 47” x 47”, 2019 (Floor installation)

With increased urbanization, suburbia and inner cities have stumps to commemorate the former arboreal landscapes which were the sources for oxygen, mitigation of soil erosion and avian life.

27” x 13” x 2”

Paint on attached tree bark, 2018 (wall mounted)

The hand motif is found in prehistoric wall paintings: a mark of imposition on nature.

Painted tree bark attached to panel surrounded by twigs

…everything was lost as the town burned.

47” x 47” x 6”

Tree bark with twigs on felt, installation, 2018

I constructed a wooded yantra (focus for meditation). Like human skin, bark conforms to a tree. In the sculpture, the shed epidermis became a pre-historical human signature: hand motifs, man’s mark of impact. Will we support nature’s provision of trees as they are the source for human shelter, oxygen, and avian refuge?

Tree bark with incised letters
21" x 14" x 1.5"
2018
Like human skin, bark conforms to a tree. Wall mounted.

Paint on attached tree bark

27” x 13” x 2”

2018

The hand motif is found in prehistoric wall paintings: a mark of imposition. Wall mounted.

29” x 24” x 24”

Painted carved fabricated wood

2022

Found carved wooden bear with rolled US flag atop painted laminated contour of US

Wall mounted 8 ½” x 10” x 3”, 2018

Russia is no friend.

Shot Dead

Paint on carved wood with letters (Size: 10” x 12” x 12”) 2018

Repeatedly in the US, a white dominated society, males of color are suspect: vulnerable to impulse shooting.

8” x 12” x 12”, painted constructed wooden model 1'“ to 1’ scale.

Home is where one finds it when there is no permanent address.

Painted constructed wood

11.5” x 8.25” x 11”

2018

Wall mounted

According to the Mayo Clinic, sleep terrors are considered a parasomnia — an undesired occurrence during sleep.

8” x 8.5” x 7.75”, Paint on laminated wood8” x 8.5” x 7.75”, Paint on laminated carved wood.

Six million victims were not enough in the 1930's & 1940's.

DEAD WATER (size: 5” x 11.25” x 11.25”) Painted carved wood, 2018

In several locations in fresh and salt water bodies, there are areas completely devoid of life. Some are permanent, others are periodic. This occurrence of the loss of oxygen in the water is becoming more common and appears across the planet. The source is thought to be a result of agricultural runoff and industrial pollution.

WATER WALL, 24” x 62” x 17”, painted carved laminated wood, wall mounted, 2018
Constructing a wall does not insure complete safety from water intrusion nor desperate immigrants.

31” x 14” x 7”

Paint on scaled, constructed wooden house

Lead pervades the painted surfaces of older homes occupied by individuals with limited financial resources precluding optimal residences. Lead is a toxin which poisons persons, usually children, living in these spaces.

Shredded US currency, found dominos with US Capitol imprint, and paint on wood, 2017

16” x 18” x 4” (wall mounted)

Divergent political views of governance motivated by money. 

Collage and carved wooden tongue on wood, 2017

 8” x 13” x 3” (wall mounted)

The President of the US speaks with a forked tongue, a Native American term for untruthful statements. 

Side with figure and living room, fourth of four views

Found vintage wooden doll furniture and altered mannequin on constructed wooden architectural model, 2017

 10.25” x 11.5” x 10.25”

The backward embrace of a fantasy golden American age denies that it was fraught with racial and ethnic discrimination locking individuals in servile roles. 

Side with figure and kitchen, one of four views

Found vintage wooden doll furniture and altered mannequin on constructed wooden architectural model, 2017

10.25” x 11.5” x 10.25”

The backward embrace of a fantasy golden American age denies that it was fraught with racial and ethnic discrimination locking individuals in servile roles. 

Found Media & paint on wood

12.75” x 21.75”x .75”

2017

The wall is to keep them out or to keep us in?

Found Media & paint on wood

12” x 18” x 3”

2017

The President and his jesters…is that “what America was”? Is that where we are going?

32” x 30” x 86”, size varies slightly with installation

Installation incorporating a wall mounting with adjacent floor placement. Wall portion (24” x 12” x 12”): carved and painted laminated wood with found painted wooden boat. Floor portion (73” x 22” x 3”): carved and painted laminated plywood in the form of a human contour. 2017

Boats, vessels, are vehicles for escape or recreation; sometimes it is not successful.

 12" x 18" x 6" Shredded US currency & paint on carved wood

2017 wall mounted.

Who shapes politics?

15.5” x 12” x 12”

Acrylic paint, glue on polyester fill supported with wire and wood armature 2017

In 2016, Americans are asked to look back to when the nation was great.  I remember the anxiety of nuclear war threatening. As a child, I was taught when I saw a very bright light to duck and cover to avoid the blast.

 46" x 18" x 18" Carved wood covered with glitter 2017

Expectations

9' x 12' x 22"

Paint on carved and fabricated wood, installation, (2016)

With global warming, inundations become the norm.

11” x 12” x 5"

Paint and shredded US currency on shaped wood 2016

The pejorative, Ugly American, can become the moniker for any American political operative who is a crass, ridiculous, avaricious and divisive demagogue.

Bombs or Butter, 8” x 10” 3”, found figures on constructed painted wooden US contour, 2015

Considering the results of the “Shock and Awe” campaign of the 2003 Iraqi War, will our foreign policy and its patriotic fervor support life affirming nutrients or death promoting war implements?

20.5” x 6.5” x 6”

Found wooden toy figure with silver charm atop a painted fabricated wooden base and graduated wooden spheres covered with shredded American currency

2016

Owing money is a personal and professional burden.

8.5” x 6” x 7”Paint on wood (found blocks with toys) 2016

Churches are set apart for prayer and reflection not for carnage. An uninvited yet welcomed stranger to a bible study shot congregants after quietly sitting in their midst for an hour. 

48” x 14” x 10”, found wooden chess pawns on constructed, painted silhouette atop checker board base, 2015

As workers, we can see our selves in this position.

15” x 14” x 3”, found wooden blocks and paint on plywood, 2015

11 1/2” x 56” x 30”, found wooden bunnies, flag, and paint on plywood, 2015

In Native American mythology, the rabbit is a secretive, trickster animal, a shape shifter, who uses cunning to outwit foes.

No More 84” 54”x 54”, painted dominos, fabricated miniature wooden buildings on plywood with mixed media cloud, 2014

“No More,” reminds the viewer of the melt-downs of nuclear reactors at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima.  Is this the power source safe?

Balance, 21” x 7” x 7”, found toy titter-totter, carved and assembled wood with paint and gold foil on wood. 2014 

Parity in governance in the United States is skewed by the weight of unlimited money in the guise of free speech.

When America was Great: Water Fountain, 10” x 10” x 4” Acrylic paint on fabricated wood and plywood 2017, wall mounted.

In 2016, Americans are asked to look back to when the nation was great. I remember two public water fountains (at the A & P Grocery Store) with a specific racial reference

Free Speech, 27” x 12” x 4”, painted fabric, carved and painted “Speech”, chain with wooden metallic weight on plywood, wall mounted, 2014

Unlimited money distorts public dialogue; the volume of purchased media outlets quells the freedom of speech.

22" x 8' x 10’, found match box cars, plywood, liquid nails, & caulk, floor installation, 2014

I see Burgeoning as a suggestion that the natural landscape is invaded by a pestilence of cars. The entire surface of the sculpture is composed of the small cars. Considering contemporary American urban freeways, the ubiquity of vehicles in traffic appears as swarms of insects. Continuing the metaphor of adult automobiles to toys, match box cars pour forth from a rupture on the surface like a volcano spewing magma of vehicles.

74" x 38" x 18", found toy cars mounted on carved wooden form, wall mounted, 2013

Demeter is the ancient Greek goddess associated with the agriculture, fertility of the earth, as well as the cycle of life and death. The contemporary landscape is defined with urban and rural markings. Urban constructions are man-made; similarly, the countryside is altered by the human touch, yet, nature is apparent. The poetic impact of Demeter can be seen outside the city by the lines of crops delineating growth, the gift of this goddess, in myth, the teacher of the cultivation of grain. In irony, the Rorschach face emerges scarred with grooves of cars; an earth marred by a season of waste and careless placement-a harvest of negligence.

38"x 24" x 24", found toy cars, steel frame, caulk, paint on fiber and wood, 2013

There is irrationality in contemporary public discourse. Vehicles employing petroleum based energy production are destructive to the environment. With toy matchbox cars (found objects) attached with industrial adhesives on a plywood and metal core, I make sculptures using motifs derived from popular culture (comic strip bombs) ironically questioning the extent of the freedom to use gasoline as a transport fuel source

An installation of found dominos and fabricated toy parts, 12” x 8” x 6” (size varies with installation, the stacked dominos can collapse), 2012

In his Church, the work considers that men seem to dominate the governance of spiritual institutions, perhaps to their detriment.

Statement about “Dominos”

In popular culture, dominoes are played not only as a board game but they become metaphorical. As a child, I remember the “cold war” jargon for the red scare (the insidious progress of communism) where independent democracies fall like dominoes as this red tide of oppression tumbles governments.

In my sculptures, dominoes placed one on top of another are precarious; they can slip and collapse. Though the stack is not very tall, the vertical pile does provide tension. A viewer does not want to disturb the balance once he/she realizes the individual dominoes are not attached to each other. The top piece, which is a toy or a modification of a toy-like form, provides a context. The irony of toys, the child’s vehicle for make-believe, used to suggest troubles in the grown-up world is not lost.

An installation of found dominos and fabricated toy parts, 12” x 8” x 6” (size varies with installation, the stacked dominos can collapse), 2012

The use of dominos with a precarious balance is us-Red/Blue. The pronoun “us” becomes the symbolic term of the United States complete with a map of the country poised atop a 30 inch or so stack of colored plastic dominos. The primary political parties in the US are Republicans and Democratics, red and blue respectively. The governmental dialogue between the two poles of persuasion is tenuous if existing at all, a metaphor presented in the work.

An installation of found dominos and fabricated toy parts, 12” x 8” x 8” (size varies with installation), 2012

In the United States, the small farm owned by an individual is being consumed by a corporate entity motivated by investment profits more than sustainable agricultural processes.

An installation of found dominos and fabricated toy parts, 12” x 8” x 8” (size varies with installation)

Childhood is a collection of successive experiments ever expanding the perception of the individual. An exploitive intimate intervention disrupts the stability of constructive layering of experiences for children.

14 inches tall (varies with installation), found wooden dominos and miniature house and landscape pieces, 2012

Houses are not just buildings but containers of memories: spaces fraught with joy or anxiety, scenarios of experiences so intimate that they frame the rest of one’s life. Home ownership is a goal for many Americans; it provides security, an emblem of success, or a tool of wealth accumulation. Domino House notes traumatic loss of home via economic crisis foreclosure or bankruptcy. The metaphor of an uncertain foundation of precariously positioned wooden dominos which can slip and collapse is true for so many home owners especially now, as our nation is undergoing a major financial crisis.

“River Demons” appears to have sinister apparitions of natural motifs, leaves morphing into masks peering over water.  Along the Rio Grande, there are clandestine crossings by smugglers moving drugs or illegal immigrants. Waiting just out of sight, they emerge with their cargo of contraband as soon as the Border Patrol launch motors past a bend in the river.

30” x 18 “ x 11”, mixed media on wood, 2010 (wall mounted)

Lucha Libre (Free Wrestling) is a cultural reference to the struggle between the Mexican and American influence in the border area. The wrestlers of Mexican popular culture (Lucha Libre, Free Wrestling) are costumed in nationalistic colors and seals contending in a prison-art framed diorama. These effigies stand in an imagined area delineated by the recently erected steel wall on the American side; the reinforced frontier designed to keep Mexicans out.

22" x 8" x 8", mixed media, 2010

“Shrine” refers to contemporary patterns of behavior employed by Mexican drug cartels. “Shrine” employs irony by placing a nostalgic vintage postcard with a traditional scene of a zocalo (cathedral square) with peasants in fiesta dress supported by a pile of white dust (cocaine can form white pile). Kidnapping is a source of revenue for idle cartel enforcers. To verify to a family that a relative has been detained, a severed finger of the victim is sent with the ransom request. The vitrine surrounding the postcard and the stand are Mexican handicraft items consistent with the notion, Hecho en Mexico (Made in Mexico), which is the label placed on all exported products. The fingers are mixed media constructions from kid gloves.

Painted, carved and constructed wood, 7 “x 6” x 6”, 2010

My chosen black surface for water carries with it an ambiguous, obscure or illusive reading. Its darkness suggests murkiness; therefore, is its depth shallow or deep or is its quality clean or polluted? The inference for water colored black can be described as powerful and frightening. Any of these descriptions can apply to the Rio Grande. I like the paradox of suggesting that a wooden fence (like those sold at Home Depot) could contain the force of water. I see the Rio Grande in terms of this metaphor. For ten years, I lived and worked near the Rio Grande, the brownish green strip of flowing water that divides countries, cultures, families, and landscapes.

Weeds are the ubiquitous plants of a locality; in another area, the same species are prized for their uniqueness.  They are exotic. “Weed” looks like a square of sod; however, the blades of grass are infiltrated with alien plants.  Not really the same as the rest, these not-so-similar growths have leaves like human appendages. They are weeds.

12" x 60" x 30" paint on wood 2005

The nopale or cactus pad is ubiquitous in south Texas. The indigenous population has a magical regard for the spiritual; appearances of forms can change. So it is with my interpretation of the nopale. It becomes a weapon. The view from the upper portion of the country of the southmost border is a mirage of vulnerability. There is a compulsion to fortify this space.

(Rabbits and Carrots), 10.5” x 30” x 24”, installation of brass, welded steel & cast aluminum (found materials) with ceramic, 2009

“Conejos y Zanahorias” is an installation of found and constructed objects. On regular forays to a local flea market (La Pulga), I discover things which piqued my interest as containing a unique reflection of the time. The cast brass bunnies, cast aluminum alligator and welded cage were such finds. By situating the metal pieces in a shaped field of constructed colored, ceramic carrots in the outline of the United States, I realize that, as a grouping, they communicate political issues related to immigration from below the southern border. To my perception, this movement of people is fueled by economics: the need to pay rent, to buy food and clothing, and to pay for school (in Mexico, there are fees for educating children).

20” x 24” x 62”, installation of painted wooden modules, 2005

The nopal, cactus pad, can be seen as an appendage, a human hand in the mysticism of the Valley of Texas. I see memorials on the roadside with plastic flowers and dedications to remind the passer-by the fate of an individual. What if the endless outcroppings of cactus plants which form textured mounds on the flat surface of the Southwest chaparrals (wild open fields) were also markers of the dead. Persons long lost to some undisclosed accident.

70” x 34” x 34” (Bomb 32” x 34” x 34”), found match-box cars on plywood and metal core and caulk and fiber, 2013

There is irrationality in contemporary public discourse. Vehicles employing petroleum based energy production are destructive to the environment. With toy matchbox cars (found objects) attached with industrial adhesives on a plywood and metal core, I make sculptures using motifs derived from popular culture (comic strip bombs) ironically questioning the extent of the freedom to use gasoline as a transport fuel source