Ben Watkins

T-bird

2021

Bedfellows refers to partnerships and celebrates relationships. This piece is subtle and beautiful. The pale, purple paint accentuates the carved texture. The piece is framed in wh...

This piece is made by casting Hydrocal FGR95 (a very hard plaster) on top of an oil clay pattern. Once cured, the oil clay is removed, then paint and brass leaf are applied to the su...

Abstract geometric three-dimensional wood wall sculpture in bright pastel hues of sage green, light grey, and beige "Turnabout", hand-carved wooden wall sculpture by Hudson Valley ar...

"Home" is an abstract artwork by Stan Olthuis composed of acrylic paint on baltic birch panel. Home measures 40" high by 30" wide by 1" deep. Typical of the artist, this minimal geometric abstraction resonates with a rich charge. It's a sculpture and a painting. The lines are elegant. The artist's obsession with geometry and intersecting shapes is a clear gesture here. The eye delights in the formal play of shape and color, while the mind engages the material force of the wood and paint. From Stan Olthuis – "My work has always involved tactility and expressionistic energy. I visualize the story and imagery simultaneously, allowing the work to surprise me and come to life as I work. I am almost careless in how I use color and texture, facing the fear of improvising on-the-fly. I like to leave the obvious raw record of the process visible, but I believe a mystery remains." Stan Olthuis looks for expressive opportunities in found and harvested raw material – wood, stone, metal, rubber – and brings a fabricator's expertise to the work of making minimalist, joyful sculptures. Geometry is key, as are a sense of play and an adept's feel for sacred energies. His work is exhibited and collected internationally, including private and corporate commissions in Canada, United States, France, Japan and Norway. Stan is represented by Gagné Contemporary in Toronto and New York City, and has select works available through the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), and Motokawa Gallery in Japan. Stan Olthuis' formal education began in Chicago with Henk Krijger, the celebrated master printmaker, type designer, painter and sculptor. Back in Toronto, Olthuis graduated (with distinction) with a degree in Experimental Arts at Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD), studying under artists Fred Hagen, Tom Hodgson...