I work with wood, metal, and salvaged materials to construct forms that sit between the familiar and the ambiguous. These objects lean toward the architectural, suggesting frames or towers, but they resist clear function. They might mark territory, divide space, or stand as evidence of a provisional system that is either unfinished or deteriorating.I am interested in how structures define relationships. They help us understand what is inside and what is outside, what is upright and what has fallen, what is temporary and what endures. Whether placed in the landscape or built at a smaller scale in the studio, the works explore how constructed forms imply use or occupation even when they are empty. They are not ruins, but they hint at both a beginning and an end.

My recent charcoal drawings of the portas of Bologna function as conceptual thresholds. These gateways serve as entrances into the sculptural work. They are made from lines, erasures, and accumulated marks, much like the sculptures are shaped through cutting, joining, and the layered histories of their materials. Each body of work informs the other, opening a conversation about passage, framing, and the quiet tension between idea and structure.

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Mitchell McAuley. September 2025.