Inscapes Opening Reception Sculpture ExhibitJanuary 17, 2019 at 6:30–8:30 p.m.

INSCAPES

OPENING Reception January 17, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Schaefer Gallery, Gustavus Adolphus College
Saint Peter, MN

January 17 - February 23, 2019

My sculpture originates in the found and the discarded. It straddles the industrial and the natural, asking questions of our sense of form and space, presence and void. My art explores the language at the intersection of sculpture, dance and architecture. While the work has shifted to newer materials, it still maintains the visual language of the found.

The Inscapes series explores the small intimate interior of sculptures that one might interact with on a table or in a small courtyard. These sculptures are all about expressing inward movements. Inscapes reflects a transitioning in my work toward the architectural and how it interacts with the sculptural, bringing the monumental sense of space from architecture into a smaller sculptural context. The work strives to create a sense of awe from inside the work, more so than from the outside.

I am interested in the juncture of sculpture and architecture, both on a monumental and micro scale, and how they might relate. The impetus for this new body of work accelerated when I moved to Minnesota, as there were tons of scrap metal, yet little access to it. As a result I have turned primarily to new metal, relying on the artistic language I had already been learning and developing with found and recycled steel.

My methodology thus far is that of an intuitive modernist. I regularly use a direct metal approach, starting with the materials in my hands and responding to them as I work. Sometimes I will resort to drawing when I hit a wall or I tire of the templating process. I strive to create works that the hand and the mind can caress, combining the industrial with the soft accents of nature and history as subtle reminders of where the materials originated and how we can re-envision our daily surroundings.

Art makes a difference and has an inspiring and healing part to play in us and in our communities.

-Andrew C. Hellmund, Virginia A. Groot Artist-in-Residence 2018-2019 | Visiting Assistant Professor of Art

Fine Arts Article by Mara Klein