* All images used with permission. Please do not distribute without first contacting the artist.
Steff Rocknak is a wood sculptor from Oneonta, NY.
Steff describes her work by saying, “Although I was born and raised in the United States, there is no question that my sculpture has been significantly influenced by my trips to Europe. In fact, having been trained as a painter, I may not have started sculpting had it not been for the semester I spent in Rome in 1987or at the very least, it may have taken me longer to realize that I prefer three dimensions over two. While there, I was especially impressed by traditional marble sculpture, particularly, the work done by three classical giants: Michelangelo, Dontatello and Bernini; never once entertaining the (currently popular) idea that because their work is so popular, particularly with the masses, that it must be superficial, trivial. So, quite content with the vulgar appeal of representational sculpture, I returned to the U.S. and began working in wood, which was the only medium available to me.”