Grainger Mckoy
Artist Statement
Wood has been an integral part of my evolution from childhood into adulthood and
from craftsman into sculptor.
As a young child, I marveled at my father notching cypress logs as the cabin in
which I grew up in the early 1950's took shape. Growing up with those interior
logs, combined with the mystery of an old decoy my grandmother had given me from
her attic, pressed something deep in me. I remember well my mother holding me
up by my belt and her encouraging words as she allowed me to saw an extended exterior
log from that cabin for my first bird. That is when I first peered over the edge
of the nest into the world of sculpture.
Carving a few birds and decoys as a teenager and working as a carpenter's helper
not only strengthened my allegiance to wood, but also revealed a love of working
with my hands. This love has only deepened with time.
Leaving home to study architecture at Clemson University turned eventually into
a BS degree in biology, which was, as I look back on it, a continuation of what
was quickened in me as I grew up next to those cypress logs and a decoy.
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