Things I Cannot Change
$2,500.00
Artist: Luca Jesse Apel
Medium: Carving in Maple and Epoxy Clay
Artist Statement:
“Things I Cannot Change” was carved during a winter residency in Dawson City, Yukon, in response to an expansive sense of capability and belonging when trekking through the snow. As someone diagnosed with autism at five, this is in sharp contrast to the feelings of alienation and discomfort I experience in social situations. Historically these feelings would overwhelm me but in Dawson, under dancing aurora and 18 hours of night, I felt empowered by the snow to embrace the things I cannot change. Carved from municipally felled maple, this sculpture depicts all 27 bones of the hand and wrist reaching towards the sky. It is meant to evoke a sense of awe in the viewer; a feeling of wonder at the intricacies of the human body and all it is capable of. Not all of us are meant to live in cities and flit effortlessly through crowds; this sculpture is a personal reminder to see this not as a failure, but a blessing. The way I am gives me more time to work with my hands and wander through the trees.
Artist Biography:
I am a sculptor, installation artist, and lifelong nomad, creating works inspired by physiology and my heritage as a Polish immigrant. I work primarily with scavenged and off-cut wood—from logging operations, construction clearing, and naturally felled trees. Rather than imposing predetermined forms, I collaborate with the wood’s imperfections: knots, cracks, and termite trails inform my designs, allowing each piece to dictate its final form. This dialogue with the medium is an integral part of my artistic process and draws parallels between wood and the human body in concepts of scarring, resilience, growth, and decay. Just as each piece of salvaged wood tells a story through its grain patterns, knots, and weathering, human tissues too reveal narratives of survival, adaptation, and healing.
