John Francis Mahoney started sculpting with metal in 1995, forming Native Images, a metalworks design studio, as an extension of his human services, cultural, community, and environmental work.

Prior to this, he worked in the human services field and for seven years worked with people with disabilities; working in group homes, and directing a job placement center to bring people who have been traditionally excluded from the mainstream workplaces into integrated community positions.

As a founding member of the NorEaster Society, John taught, wrote, and ran environmental education programs. The NorEaster Society was incorporated as a non-profit collective re-evaluating the life, ecology, folklore, history, politics, and conservation of the Northeastern Coastal Bioregion.

Its underlying philosophy is that everything is connected to everything else, including ourselves; nature, culture, art, religion, and our everyday acts. This very same philosophy behind the concepts and creations of Native Images.

Native Images studio located in Pawcatuck, CT
 

While working with the NorEaster Society, John became interested in the art and cultural significance of the human species as a participant in the workings of the earth and from this began to study and work in metals with early images and forms our species had created as early as 10,000 bc. This was the extension of all he had done, an attempt to tie in the whole workings of expression on an environmental, cultural, and mythic scale, integrating them into the everyday workings of life.

John has done numerous shows up and down the East Coast and has won many prestigious awards at art shows. John continues to exhibit in gallery shows and has done collaborations with several local artists, mixing the genres perfectly.

- notes collected by Tariq ibn Zayid