Whilst searching for a poetic form or image, my work is very much involved with its own making and the engagement with the chosen material. The process of making the work is a journey and this is often present as an image in some form or other in the work. It is a journey of discovery, of development and of refinement, and is a metaphor for life. I begin with a tree trunk which has grown in a particular place, in a particular way, sometimes I create the sculpture in that place. Wherever the piece is made, the particularities of the site, the weather, the people I meet, all leave an imprint on the work in some way. The destination is a meeting point between my initial intentions, what the timber has allowed me to do, and where the journey has taken us. It is this process of refinement that continues to fascinate and surprise me.

Richard Caink 2002