Artist statement – on ARA SERIES

from BONES OF THE EARTH / SPIRIT OF THE LAND: the Sculpture of John Van  Alstine,

hardcover published by Grayson Publishing a division of Ariel Press, Washington, DC, 1999   

"Many of my works incorporate anvils, either real or cast. Anvils have the shape suggestive of a boat or vessel which implies journey which interests me. But further, as a metal worker and “assembler”, the anvil is the place where I physically and conceptually forge things together; for me it is the symbolic place where the “art” is born - there is an art spirit that comes off the anvil. It‘s almost like an altar. I've titled many of these pieces Ara , which is Latin for altar.

In all my work one of my sculptural objectives is to breathe ‘life” and airiness into the heavy, earth-bound elements like big chunks of raw granite or industrial size metal. To me the anvil is the quintessential heavy object, and to get it up in the air creates a wonderful sense of tension and interest."