Fayette City man turns wood into pieces of art
Wood sculptor Miguel Burgos’ art studio in Hopwood is filled with amazing pieces that reflect the eclectic interests of this talented man. “I carve what I like,’ Burgos said simply of his assortment of works.
They include a variety of religious art, some that showcase classic books, and pieces that are a commentary on American life and politics.
Scattered throughout are Burgos’ “bird people,’ creations he based on the cartoon characters crows Heckel and Jeckel.
“My idol is Thaddeus Mosley,’ Burgos said, reeling off a list of credentials for the Pittsburgh sculptor who taught Burgos his first wood sculpting class in 1981 through the Pioneer Crafts Council.
“I call this ‘False Prophet’ – they’re all over the place – and this is ‘The Prophet’ – I made it in honor of Thad Mosley. It’s serene, the way Thad is,’ Burgos said as he walked through the studio, showing off some of his pieces.
A native of New York City of Puerto Rican heritage, Burgos, 66, didn’t show much interest in art in his early years.
“Evidently I had some talent because all I did was make posters for teachers in elementary school,’ he smiled.
Burgos grew up in the South Bronx but saw other young men who lived there turning up dead or junkies. He wanted out, so he faked his birth certificate and tried to enlist in the military at 16. They wouldn’t take him but told him to wait one year and then with permission from his parents, Burgos joined the Marines in 1958.
“I was all over the place,’ Burgos said, noting he served several tours of duty at sea. “I was in the Marines for 11 and a half years. I was in Vietnam eight months, then they sent me to Okinawa. I came back another eight months and then came back to the States.’
Burgos returned to New York City, where he worked as a letter carrier for six months and then transferred to Los Angeles, until he joined the Marine Corps Reserve in California, put in for active duty and was sent back to Vietnam in 1969, working reconnaissance for another eight months.
After returning to New York City, Burgos moved to Florida’s West Coast and became involved in construction. After five or six years, someone offered Burgos a job in Fayette County and he moved here in 1979. He now lives on a farm near Fayette City.
“I like it here. As a community, people are so generous. If there’s a fire or someone is sick, they’re collecting money,’ said Burgos, comparing the area to New York City, where his uncle was stabbed and people walked around him because they thought he was a derelict. “One time my car broke down on the bypass. A guy in a van stopped. He was carrying fuel and jumper cables. He said we ride up and down helping people.’
Burgos continued to work in construction until he developed lupus and eventually retired. But along the way, he began working with art – first solar art and then sculpting with wood, taking his first class at the Pioneer Crafts Council in 1981, when someone who had registered for a class with Thaddeus Mosley could not attend but sent his tuition anyway and asked that someone else be given his spot. Burgos gladly took it.
Keeping up his studies, Burgos first used hand tools and then switched to power tools while creating his pieces. He used to fill notebooks with sketches of ideas but now he simply gets to work and transforms the wood into the creation he sees in his mind. His pieces have been displayed in several local venues as well as a show in Philadelphia. He keeps photo albums of his pieces, marking those that have been sold.
Burgos’ work includes a series called “America Worships’ that sets themed pieces on crosses, including “Americans Worships Their Cars’ that features the back end of a Cadillac on which is placed a gas pump, a Volkswagen Beetle and a biker. “America Worships Guns’ features a pistol while “America Worships Monster Movies’ showcases King Kong, Dracula and the Mummy.
There is also a piece that features Uncle Sam holding a bomb. “All countries worship the United States. They want us to come. We bring money but we also bring bombs,’ said Burgos.
Burgos often makes political statements with his art.
He shows a piece on global warming that features a skillet with two fried eggs that have the earth in the yolks, ala melting earth, along with two pieces of bacon.
One sculpture features bright red lips laying flat and a zipper rising from between them. It’s called “Image of President Clinton.’
“I read in the newspaper that America reached one million people in prison and the next year I read it reached two million. So I did this piece,’ said Burgos, who pointed to a cart with iron bars filled with inmates standing packed like sardines. His “bird people’ pull the wagon and act as guard.
“Dogs of War’ showcases red, white and blue dogs and a base covered with the names of wars and conflicts, such as Kosovo and Iraq.
“My country has been at war someplace all my life,’ explained Burgos.
Asked if his years of military service influenced his work, Burgos said, “Obviously, a lot. But it would be the same as somebody who spent a lot of time in church or somebody who was outdoors all the time. I think some of the best times in my life were in the military.’
Addressing the many shootings in this country, Burgos created a small sculpture that positioned a figure wrapped in bandages like a mummy and filled with bullet holes and bleeding in front of a blackboard filled with words such as “Please quit killing. Please quit shooting.’
“I wanted to do a political cartoon but I did it in wood,’ explained Burgos.
Another intriguing piece is a large chess set that features the United States vs. North Vietnam.
The rooks include a Scud missile for the Vietnamese and a small tower (“You would see them all over Vietnam.’) for the United States. The American knight is a black Marine. Henry Kissinger is the American bishop. Nixon with his victory signs is the American king while Ho Chi Minh is the Vietnamese king.
For the queens, Burgos explained, “I have a woman on both sides who is mourning for her sons. Their faces are covered with veils. They are carrying their countries’ flags.’
He did a piece on September 11 that featured a plane flying into a target that is the American flag.
Commenting on these political pieces, Burgos said, “I have an opinion. I’m not a writer. I don’t draw well. This is an expression – my way of communicating.’
Burgos has also done pieces based on classic books, such as sculptures of characters from “Moby Dick’ and “Treasure Island’ as well a children’s bed he’s now creating with characters from “Alice In Wonderland’ and “Alice Through the Looking Glass.’
And there’s that mix of whimsy.
“A Fine Kettle of Fish’ shows the bottom end of a gold-colored fish rising out of a covered frying pan.
A carved case features the Grim Reaper on the outside and inside, the cape is removed to reveal the skeleton, which is a female character in red high heels. Burgos said his bread and butter are the walking sticks he sells that feature a 50-caliber shell on the bottom and tops such as skulls or an alligator coming out of an egg.
The artist also does furniture, showing off several tabletops that include one featuring deer tracks, another with a flounder carved into the wood and another with a sculpture of a frog on a lily pad and several other lily pads.
After moving to Pennsylvania, Burgos developed an interest in the Hopi Indians of the American Southwest. He showed off a piece called “Shallako,’ based on the Hopi God of Thunder.
And there are many religious pieces, including an image of Judas that shows an open hand holding money.
The hand rises from a red broken heart, surrounded by thorns.
Burgos has also created sculptures that feature St. Michael, St. Valentine, Moses, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Clare, David and Goliath, Jonah and the whale, the Holy Trinity, Adam and Eve, St. Joan of Arc, St. Joseph and the Holy Family. He gave a piece of St. Peter to the Smithsonian.
Asked if he is religious, Burgos said, “Not at all. But I know a lot about religion. My grandmother was raised in the Pentecostal Church and I was in church three, four times a week. I got away from it. But my son is a Pentecostal and it’s the best thing that ever happened to him.’
Divorced, Burgos has two sons, Jimmy, who lives in the Mon Valley, and Bruce, who lives in New York City, and a grandson, Miguelito. He says his biggest supporter is companion Louise Williams.
And in the midst of all this art, Burgos is tackling another ambitious project, working for the past two and a half years on an open yawl that’s 19 and a half feet long.
“I’m learning how to build it and I love learning,’ he said of the boat.
The common thread through all of this is that Burgos enjoys creating.
“I just like all the aspects,’ he said. “I enjoy sitting around and talking to other artists. I enjoy the creative part, not just thinking about it but doing it. I’ve met a lot of good people. I always feel funny when people say – the artist. I’m just this guy who knows how to do this.’
He explained he was awarded a medal once in Vietnam for service under combat conditions with other servicemen who were also awarded the Silver Star.
“Those guys deserved it. I didn’t deserve it,’ said Burgos, who felt embarrassed when a fellow serviceman called him a hero. “That’s the feeling – that this is not a big thing. Whenever I read about Ansel Adams or Picasso, that’s an artist. Thad Mosley is an artist.’
And yet, despite his protests, this impressive body of work produced by Burgos says otherwise.