Oh Lord it's hard to be humble.
Is what my sculpture professor and mentor at TCU, Thad Duhigg used to sing aloud once in a while around the sculpture studio. A little arrogant, a bit comedic and even sarcastic. Hmm, perhaps that's why I enjoyed the man. I was reminiscing of my times as a BFA undergrad at TCU tonight and thought I would share my admiration for a such a man, and a little how I feel he had a hand in shaping who I am. I first knew Thad as the stern man with the intimidating deep voice as I entered my first art class, 3D Design. As a freshman/sophomore, I wasn't happy as a business or criminal justice major and took an art class via my mothers advice. Through some wonderful scheduling from my TCU counselor, I somehow found myself sitting amongst juniors and seniors in an upper level art course demanding several prerequisite courses I was unaware of. Little did I know this was a Horned Frog miracle! I was so captivated by this class, I knew this was it. This is what I want to do. Not just art in general, but sculpture. Even against my own entrepreneurial instincts, I decided to change majors. About a year and a half later after I took the required classes, I then entered the sculpture lab once again for more sculpture madness. Thad had a passion for art. He had a very serious tone when talking about art. It wasn't a joke to him, and I respected that. As my semesters as a sculpture student increased, I had the pleasure to discuss many of topics with Thad. From religion to politics to history and of course just life in general. I never felt Thad and I were close friendship wise, but then again I respected him as I respect my parents. My parents were parents. They weren't my best friends, they didn't baby me. They were raising me to become a self sufficient adult. They held me responsible for my actions, and I never wanted to disappoint them. I felt this way about Thad. I feel he taught me not just about how to sculpt, how to use equipment and cast bronze, but he taught me respect, loyalty and hard work. When I made work I knew was bad, I was embarrassed to show it to him, as though I felt I had let him down. I felt I needed to prove myself through my work. Do only my best, present only my best. Thad always seemed to have student's art careers foremost on his mind. It was easy to see that he fought for us(students) and what was best for us and our futures as artists. Not all of the professors at TCU spoke with the same conviction as Thad. You knew he cared about you. At the time, he was starting to sketch out ideas of a new body of work that encompassed ideas of social tendencies and cultural differences - tenure work perhaps? This work seemed very true to him as a person. Thad always questioned why things were. Don't just buy into the norm because it's the norm or part of history, etc. He encouraged students to do the same. Thad didn't want to just critique students work on an aesthetic level, but wanted us to question why we made it, what was it really about. Of course most of us became very good at b.s.ing reasoning on the fly, but this true self questioning idea stuck with me. I started questioning my work and what it encompassed. What did it mean, why am I making it, what else should I make and why. Unfortunately for myself, I felt like I was the only student in class that didn't have some emotional background to work off of. Other students were making work that came from such an underlining reason of disturbance. I felt like the outsider. I didn't have any deep emotions to play off of or some historic incident that changed my life. I started working on a series of equestrian based sculptures as I was around horses quite a bit at the time, and enjoyed the power, elegance and anatomy of such a large animal. The work was pure aesthetic. It was fun, and easy, but I knew this wasn't my thing. Toward my junior/senior year I began to play with the idea of kitsch objects, but never really grasped how to portray my ideas emotionally, and most of the work was terrible. This was a series of work that meant something, it had a voice, except I wasn't sure exactly what it was. Of course this was a problem with me. How can I make something if I truly don't understand why I want to make it. I frustratedly reverted back to the equestrian series and finished up my undergrad years with the horse series. A short two year productive and financially sound art career, some galleries, commissions, a re-emerging passion for architecture, five year construction business and lot's of traveling later, 2008 happened. While maintaining ideas and thoughts in sketchbooks of numerous eclectic series of work including the kitsch for nearly 10 years, the reasoning and voice finally seeped in and my sketches and ideas all made sense. This was the day I met Jeff Koons at his 25th Anniversary show in Chicago. This is when I started blueprinting my new series of work I proudly and excitedly am making today. My journey has been sporadic, adventurous and fulfilling. I've learned so much. I am excited to be making artwork once again and with a passion even more fierce than that which I had in undergrad. I wonder if I had a different sculpting professor if it would have changed my views and ideas of not just art, but about life itself. Most definitely! I feel privileged to say I worked and studied under the hand of Thad Duhigg. To end, a couple words which come to mind when thinking of my ol' professor Thad.. integrity and honesty.
I haven't talked with Thad in years, but it's good to see he is still making amazing art. Here is a piece I found on the interweb.
 |
| "Empire" by Thadd Duhigg @ Reunion Sculpture Exhibition in Abilene Texas |
