The landscape may have something to do with Mark Werner's leaning toward sculpture since moving to Arkansas in 1977. He finds that the woods are so lush and plentiful that he is excited about going out and directly gathering the materials he uses. Knowing he didn't want to teach after graduating from art school, Werner's father offered his son the opportunity to live in his vacation home as a caretaker. Later, Werner and his wife built their own home on that land. He says isolation is not new to him since his parents often took vacations to remote places.
Werner does lattice-like wall constructions, paints and draws. His three-dimensional work involves a constant ordering and tension of materials as can be seen in the tight grids he weaves from freshly cut vines. "I try to keep function and idea separate," he says, "I don't want to say I am making something- a chair or a bowl." He feels his relationship to craft is akin to the process he uses, particularly going out and gathering his own natural materials. For him the work suggests ancient and primitive culture. "I like to allude to things without loading up on them," he said.
Alan DuBois, Curator of Decorative Arts
Arkansas: Year of American Craft 1993 exhibition catalogue