Maureen Bergquist Gray   Untitled  $3,500

Interlochen, Michigan

To hear the artist’s phone cast dial517-999-1013

Artist’s website: maureenbgray.com

Artist Statement: My sculpture has always been a method for me to explore life and spirit.  It is the way I understand the mystery of existing in the here and now.  When I am sculpting, I am meditating, communing with the energies that surround me.  Most of my work is abstract figurative; however, I am also working with concepts that have traveled with me during my life experience.  It is my belief that people are basically good and that what is inside a person matters more than what is on the outside.  Most of my sculptures have been pierced so the viewer can see more than the exterior.  It is my hope that when some views my sculpture they add their life experience into the concept making it their own.

Biography: I knew at an early age that I wanted to be an artist.  In the beginning, I thought I would be an illustrator, but as soon as I carved a few stones, I was hooked.  I attended Northern Michigan University where I received a BFA in furniture design and construction with a sculpting minor.  It was during college that I fell in love with stone sculpting.  During my career as a sculptor, I have been fortunate to receive a few large-scale commissions, two for mass transit buildings in Flint, Michigan, and one for Old Town Lansing, which will be installed in the spring of 2012.  At this time, I am also working in steel, which allows me to work in large scale without the weight of stone.