All Images and text © copyright 2005 Tanya Kukucka.All rights reserved.

Often I am asked if I have nightmares.

It is often the initial response to viewing my work.
I've gotten used to it. My reply is usually a smile.

I rarely have 'monster' dreams. Unfortunately,when I do have
nightmares, they are not of pursuit by some horrid beast
attempting to devour me.

Such dreams would be welcomed entertainment, unlike my
usual anxiety nightmares. Dreaming of being trapped,
naked and vulnerable, in a crowded
Starbucks, is what gives me the creeps.

These sculptures, like many artworks,
are a representation of an inner self.
Friends, who generally know me as a sweet
person, speculate that I purge the inner
darkness of my psyche through cathartic work.

That may be true. I purposefully wrestle with
the dark side of my being and present it to the world
in a courageous force of will, through an assemblage
of found objects. I find the process therapeutic, both
mentally and spiritually.

Gathering materials for my sculptures is the impetus for my
work. Searching along train tracks and wooded hillsides
for bones, feathers, nuts and pieces of wood turns
relaxing walks in the country into meditations on
transmogrification and juxtaposition, creation and
decay. Texture, color and shape anchor themselves
to subconscious crevasses. A weathered deer
skull and a discarded baby doll assemble into
something beautiful and meaningful.

I have always felt that my sculptures create
themselves: I feel as if I am merely a
proxy for a greater, subconscious,
creative force, which actually puts
them together.