Competition Class IV 2009-2011

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Lonesome Old River by Gary Mitchell

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PIECE SPECIFICATIONS:

Formed Aluminum, 72"

click photos to enlarge

HOMETOWN:

St. Louis, Missouri

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SCULPTING?

30-plus years.

WHAT GOT YOU INTO THIS MEDIUM?

An exposure to the aircraft industry.

WHERE DID THE INSPIRATION FOR THIS SELECTED PIECE DERIVE?

A Greek statue of Ariadne.

TELL US ABOUT THE CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH CRAFTING THIS PIECE.

Translating antique shapes into modern industrial methods.

HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO COMPLETE THIS PIECE?

About two months.

HOW DO YOU WANT THE SCULPTURE GARDEN AUDIENCE TO LOOK AT YOUR WORK?

As a construction like an airplane fuselage.

WHAT WOULD YOU HOPE THE AUDIENCE TAKES AWAY FROM YOUR PIECE?

A sense that it is good to have bodies.

WHAT OTHER ARTISTS INSPIRE YOU?

Elie Nadleman, William Zorach, Malloil

WHY DO YOU DO THE WORK YOU DO?

Because it is one of the only things I do well.

WHERE DO YOU HAVE OTHER WORKS?

Hot Springs, Arkansas; Wildwood, Missouri; Lafayette, Colorado

HOW DO YOU FINANCE THE WORK THAT YOU DO?

Gifts from patrons, 70 percent; Sales, 30 percent.

Homage to Growth by Glenn Zweygardt

PIECE SPECIFICATIONS:

Granite, Marble, Cast Bronze, Powder Coated, Steel, 168" × 36" × 22"

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HOMETOWN:

Alfred Station, New York

FROM THE ARTIST:

"From my early childhood spent on a Kansas farm, I have been watching plants and animals grow. It is critical that one "pays attention" to both plants and animals to have a prospering farm. Living as an adult in upstate New York in a heavily forested part of the state, I found foliage growth to be an overwhelming experience and influence on my work."

The works of Glenn Zweygardt are simultaneously ancient and contemporary. With his use of diverse materials - cast bronze, glass, iron, marble, stainless steel, stone and granite - he creates complex media sculptures that exemplify a master of the three dimensional form. Zweygardt possesses an uncanny ability to fuse dissimilar elements and concepts, natural occurring and fabricated forms, into structures that command the attention if the observer. This interaction of artist, nature and technology has a unifying affect on the observer's imagery and psyche.

Duplication and relationship is a recurring theme found throughout Zweygardt's work. A carefully chosen stone, cast and duplicated in bronze, aluminum or steel becomes the basis of definite architectural themes that manifest in a range of sizes. Zweygardt's mastery of the building process along with his ability to create enormous works of art from materials of tremendous mass has gained him international recognition and membership to the Berman Group, a cooperative of sculptors whose collective work spans virtually the entire spectrum of possibilities of "traditional" modernist sculpture.

Kansas born, Zweygardt earned the BFA degree from Wichita State in 1967. He received the MFA from the Maryland Institute of Art in 1969 and is an emeritus Professor of Sculpture at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. Zweygardt works independently in his immense workshop in Alfred Station, New York. Here his work continues to evolve-varied shapes and rich surfaces, transparent and dense forms, concept and technical relationships, personal and collective perceptions-into fine art of eminent legacy.

Triolisk by Dan Johnson

PIECE SPECIFICATIONS:

Earth Cast Colored Concrete, 12’ × 1’ × 1’

click photos to enlarge

HOMETOWN:

Alto Pass, Illinois

FROM THE ARTIST:

"Like an obelisk but with just three sides, this colored concrete piece reaches for the heavens. The work started in the soil though, it was cast in the earth. Using the traditions of totem poles and the skyward reach of obelisks and steeples, I’ve tried to create a piece that both holds interest in the here and now and points towards the endless possibilities we all have."

The Mathews-Sanders Sculpture Garden
at Delta State University
Highway 8 West
Cleveland, Mississippi 38732