While it’s fair to accuse Beau Winkler of running pigment through his veins instead of blood, it’s also a touch cliché.  More accurate, then, and somewhat less prosaic, to say his art calls out to the world from his bones  - as the bones call to him.

“I’m fascinated with the role of water in the cycle of life,” Winkler says.  “I spent a lot of time in the Ladonia Riverbed, finding fossils, newer bones, living creatures.  Water is essential to survival.  It’s also the solvent that strips the bones clean.”

Winkler’s works – paintings, photography, sculpture – transform easily recognizable skeletal shapes into beautiful but mordant bonescapes, surreal and hinting at threat.  While Georgia O’Keefe comparisons have been drawn, Winkler’s sharp edges and deep contrasts are definitively masculine.  “There is inherent violence in the subject matter,” he says.  “Although the paintings themselves are not violent.”

More obvious influences include Roy Lichtenstein, Albrecht Durer, Lee Baxter Davis, and Salvador Dali.  Winkler refers to his visit to the Dali museum as “a truly amazing experience.” 

While his paintings are abstracts based on organic form, Winkler's work in small metals – some cast, some hand-forged - is inspired by mechanical design.  “Some pieces are wearable,” he says, “while others would be ridiculous if worn.  But I like the idea of non-wearable jewelry.”

Similarly, his photography features metal and texture often found on trains.  “I'm fascinated by the symmetry,” Winkler says.  He prefers a purist approach to the photograph.  “I only use Photoshop to replicate the kind of enhancements you'd get in a darkroom.  I don't have anything against digital images.  I try to stay old school as much as possible.”

His own tools for art on canvas run to the traditional as well – Windsor Newton red sable brushes and pigment, and Mediterranean sea salt applied to Arches cold-press paper.  “I prefer watercolor,” Winkler says.  “I love the challenge.  It's controlling the uncontrollable.  How do I get pigment floating in water to settle exactly where I want?”     

Winkler's work is informed by dichotomy and cycles.  Newer projects include a series of paintings that explore more somber aspects.  “It will still involve bones,” Winkler says.  “But the environments I place them in will lead the viewer toward the darker side of the cycle.”

And if you happen to see a distant figure prowling the Ladonia Riverbed, don’t be alarmed … he’s merely looking for inspiration.