ARTIST STATEMENT

For as long as I can remember, I have been compelled to explore what lies under the surface of our experiences, relationships, and the world around us. What I learned early on is that it is a much more interesting place and there is a lot more to it than meets the eye. To borrow a metaphor, it is the rest of the iceberg that I find most interesting. It is inevitably the place where we find meaning and purpose. Helen Keller once said that life is a grand adventure or nothing. I try to live that ethic and capture pieces of the adventure in my art.

Through my sculpture, I try to create a compelling invitation for the viewer to dive below the surface and share my journey, my exploration, and my discoveries. Mine are figurative works that arise from and evoke powerful emotions. They are expressions of the deep connections human beings have with one another and with forces greater than ourselves.

My medium is sculpture because it is like life. What we see often depends on our particular point of view both literally and figuratively. So, while there are inevitably one or two dominant presentation angles, I attempt to make each piece interesting regardless of the viewers’ physical perspective.

So, consider this my personal invitation to explore new territory. Or, perhaps to revisit places you have forgotten but see them again with fresh eyes.

I hope you enjoy the work as much as I enjoyed the process of bringing it into the world.

ARTIST BIO

Yon Regan was born on the gulf coast of Texas and raised in the foothills of the Ozark mountains in Oklahoma. Although his parents have little appreciation for fine art, his mother shared her deep love for music and theater. So, when Yon covered the wall of his bedroom in Tulsa with a caricature of the skyline of San Francisco, . . . they were at least tolerant and perhaps even curious.

To be fair, they were more than merely tolerant. When the local museum made an etching class available, he was in it, when he showed an interest in photography, they helped him buy his first professional grade camera. (They still have some of those early photographs on the wall.) The love they provided for something they did not and do not understand, is not lost on Yon or his work. While it is inevitable that some works will be cast and others deemed unworthy, his approach to each piece is with humility and appreciation. None are taken for granted.

Yon first became aware of his interest in the arts in third grade. An origami bird that would even flap its wings if you held it right truly set things in motion. The idea of transforming an ordinary object like a piece of paper into a work of art is something that sticks with him to this day. Things of beauty and inspiration can come from everyday materials.

While Yon’s primary voice is in three dimensional portrait and figurative works in bronze and clay, he has also been known for carving stone, creating found object works and even designing and building private homes, communities and retreat centers.

Although his artistic education did not follow a traditional path, he took full advantage of what amounts to a classical art training that was available to him while attending University in central France. He also embraces what can be learned from others, a lesson imbued by his father, and has had private instruction with world-class sculptors including Agnes and Gedion Nyanhongo, as well as Philippe Faraut.

In 2013 Yon began focusing on full figure bronze sculpture after having focused on commissioned portrait works for many years.

Outside of art, Yon holds a private pilot’s license for high performance aircraft with an aerobatics sign off, a charter certificate for large sailboats, active scuba diver, skier, certified mountaineering instructor and technical rock climber.