GALO: Understanding the human form goes hand in hand with understanding the human psyche as capturing movement is just as considerably important as facial expressions. (In a way, movement is language and emotion in and of itself.) As an artist, do you feel that you view and have a deeper understanding for people and their emotions, quite differently than an average person might?

SH: Because I have spent 40,000 hours with life models, I am keenly aware of how a body type tells a story. The body tells a lot about an individual’s mind set, his or her psychology. The body is in constant flux, even when someone is standing still, he’s moving. Muscles are active when someone stands upright. Because of this, I have trained myself to see the nuances of flesh and bone that tell the story about the individual.

GALO: How does this correlate with your artwork and view of art itself?

SH: Because the human body is so incredibly complex, figurative art is a portal into showing how amazing human beings actually are. I translate gesture and body type into forms that push outward into space. In this way, I can show the expansiveness of the unique soul within the body.

GALO: Did the title of the book come from the notion of sculpture being a form of art that is very much alive? Or was the mindset rather that of your own art coming to life before the reader’s eyes as they discovered its process and your life, hidden away on the pages?

SH: There are many parallels between the creation of sculpture and the creation of one’s own life. For both, each person must think about where he or she wants to go, and then he or she must do the physical work to create that path. The artist, like any other person, holds a vision for where he wants his piece to go, where he wants his life to go. From this understanding came the title.

GALO: You’ve been commissioned to do work for several people over the years inclusive of the designer Mark Weaver, who has your sculptures on display in his foyer. Do you prefer commissioned or regular, unassigned work?

SH: I like doing both, because of late, the collectors who commission my work seek my advice as an artistic director, so I have a lot of input into the piece. The collector often comes to the table with a concept I wouldn’t have thought of on my own, and then I offer suggestions. It puts me in a new and creative place of discovery, because there are certain subjects I wouldn’t have come up with on my own.

GALO: In the book, your wife doesn’t remember telling you to make a sculpture of Apollo, claiming that everyone will love it. Yet to this day, you say with certainty that she is the one who prompted you to pursue this endeavor after finishing Aphrodite. Why did your wife’s suggestion guide you toward fulfilling this new project — what was it about the mystique of Apollo that engulfed you? 

SH: I liked the concept of light and structure and beauty, since Apollo represents those and they are all the elements of my own creative process. Apollo is a very engineered piece, with the uplifted sternum whose planes are pitched up to the light, giving the illusion of luminosity coming out of his heart. Also, the concept of beauty intrigued me. I could take it to the next level, and leave behind the Michelangelo-esque ideas of stress and struggle in the human form, and move into a figure that was more about grace and power.

GALO: Do your wife’s suggestions regularly find their way into your mind, and thereafter, into your sculpting hands?

SH: Traci constantly suggests things. I often find her suggestions irritating because she knows what I do intimately, and she knows that I always push myself. By suggesting a change in direction, it feels uncomfortable at first. Then it forces me to grow and create something one step higher.

GALO: Yet, you have said that when you start a piece, you never know what it is about? Isn’t that a bit contradictory?

SH: I have a loose visual idea in mind, but I don’t know what the narrative to the visuals is. Once I start making the piece, I start to do conceptual research. At that time, it’s almost like I tap into a collective consciousness, and I will eventually understand why I picked a specific pose or morphology to tell a story.

GALO: How do your children perceive your work? Are any of them following in your or your wife’s footsteps?

SH: My older daughter, who is 22 and grew up in my studio, has fond memories when she sees my work because she remembers what it was like to see the sculptures at home. Back then, 15 years ago, my studio was in my living room. She’s now going to medical school. My little one is fascinated by my studio, but I think she may be a lawyer. She’s more of a wordsmith and she loves to argue.

GALO: Tell us a bit about EGO, your diploma project done in 1994. You were the only student to cast it in bronze. 

SH: In graduate school, I was fascinated with the seated figures on the Sistine ceiling. EGO was a break-through piece for me as it was the first time I made the translation from two-dimensional drawings to contemporary three-dimensional sculpture. Making it in bronze showed me the actual professionalism it took to bring a piece to presentation state. The patina and base, including the height of the base, is crucial to how the piece looks. You have to get it right, if you want to sell the piece.

GALO: Every student has a mentor or a person who had a huge impact on their life and career. Besides your wife, who irrevocably changed your perception of art and helped guide you with your technique?

SH: There were two people, a husband and wife team of artists: Walter and Martha Erlebacher. They gave me a methodology for my creative process so I wouldn’t be lost in my studio. They showed me what it took to be a world-class artist, the level of focus, persistence, and commitment required on a daily basis.

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