The direction of my artwork is rooted in addressing notions of expectations and cultural attitudes as it defines our relationship to the natural world. I am very interested in the relationship between nature/culture, the separation of urban/rural, society’s dependence on nature, and its influence over it.

Often our attitudes and practices set us off balance with nature as we continue to indifferently stumble along with little regard for the resulting consequences. With this in mind, I find myself drawn to the manipulation of natural material as a metaphor. I attempt to present the work in a manner where very little visual evidence of the hand can be seen, it is only implied.

I chose the raw state of wood because of its reference to the natural world, its familiarity, and for the expectations we have attached to it. We know it to be ridged, solid, and heavy, however, it is presented in a way that breaks with those expectations and asks viewers to reconsider how they perceive what they are experiencing. Logs and branches appear cut, broken, and in a state of deterioration; yet suggest wholeness, movement, and a sense of liveliness. What is happening, what is about to happen? By using internal counter-weighting, the wood becomes visually unstable; as if about to fall. Ten and twenty foot logs unbelievably balance in space, rocking and swaying at the slightest touch.

Other pieces have internally placed magnets that allow cut branches and logs to barely touch and to precariously swing in motion. Pieces feel as though they are about to fall, but do not, as if caught in a moment. Are they falling apart or are they attempting to rejoin or heal themselves? Others appear suspended in the air rotating on an invisible axis. In this way the viewer is not only aware of the objects in front of them, but becomes aware of themselves in the space they both occupy; attentive to their own presence.

To quote Daniel Quinn, we exist in a “Taker Culture”. More often than not, people define nature as a commodity to be owned, manipulated, and consumed. Sadly, the Discovery Channel defines most Americans idea of “real” nature and their personal connection to nature does not extend beyond the television screen. With these pieces I have been thinking of the natural materials metaphorically in context to our relationship with the natural world. Sometimes our relationship is even, consistent, harmonious, and balanced. At other times is becomes more irregular, setting us off balance and setting into motion the resulting consequences. My work seeks to engage questions of how we view the environment and identify our relationship to the world in which we exist.

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Originating from the Midwest, Travis Graves and his family has been living in the Appalachia Mountains for the last three years. Graves has shown his work both regionally and nationally, and he continually strives to make work that is both visually interesting and socially relevant.

Graves grew up in the town of Sioux City, Iowa. The Missouri River Valley is a place of soft rolling hills and endless fields of corn and soybeans. Growing up on the edge of town, where the farm fields meet the city, he came into adulthood with an understanding and appreciation for both the city and rural life.

Graves attended Iowa State University as an undergraduate where he received his BFA in drawing, painting, and printmaking. He received his Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, where his primary focus of study was sculpture. Before moving to Tennessee, he lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and taught at The Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (MIAD). The artist currently lives in Elizabethton, TN and teaches at East Tennessee State University