23 June 2008

Graham Caldwell

Graham Caldwell (Courtesy of the artist)

(The following article is taken from the U.S. Department of State publication, Art on the Edge: 17 Contemporary American Artists.)

Elizabeth’s Tears (Courtesy of the artist and Addison/Ripley Fine Art, Washington, DC)

"I am interested in the intersection of the organic and the mechanical, as is exemplified by the joints of skeletons, the bifurcations of plants, or the veinwork of the electrical grid. Joints between parts are important events within individual works, and the concept of connection and interdependence is a central theme. The connections often involve lines which open into volumes or congeal into droplets. My sculptures embody the fluidity of glass and its ability to amass light. The parts are purposefully joined together to structure the amorphousness of their arrangement, and to fasten them to their own weightlessness. They are simultaneously invisible and visible. I am looking for the bones of the invisible."

[Graham Caldwell (b. 1973, Washington, D.C.) studied glass making at the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence (BFA 1998); the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, Maine (1998); The Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York (1998); Umeleckprumyslova (School of Applied Arts) in Prague, Czech Republic; Pilchuk Glass School, Stanwood, Washington (1997); and Parsons School of Design, New York City (1992-1995). After completing his studies, Caldwell returned to live and work in Washington, D.C., where his sculptural installations have been on view at Addison/Ripley Fine Art (2003); the Corcoran Gallery of Art (2003); the Millennium Art Center (2001); and the Octagon Museum of the American Architectural Association (2001).]