Billy Criswell

Blue Boy

2019

Criswell's standing sculpture emerged from a study of spatial organization by arranging basic, repetitive shapes into a harmonious balance, while exploring the concept of simultaneou...

The Heart of the Matter – Metal Wall Sculptures Artist Statement by Tom Hoitsma: In October 2019 my family learned first-hand a brutal lesson about the climate crisis. Dallas used to see one tornado each year. For the last few years that number had tripled and the intensity of the tornados has increased. On October 20, 2019 one of these super tornados ripped through our Dallas neighborhood. With winds up to 140 miles per hour and three quarters of a mile wide, this tornado literally came right down our street. By some act of God, the tornado jumped over the first 5 houses on the west end of our street (including my house), which I was in at the time with my kids, but destroyed most of the homes just west of us. We have all seen images of this kind of destruction on television but to walk the neighborhood the next morning, and see the destruction with my own eyes was completely surreal and deeply disturbing. As usual, my eye kept settling on the sculptural beauty in some of the wreckage, especial the twisted metal. I collected some of these broken and bent objects and brought them to my studio to contemplate. On our walk the morning after the tornado, my 12 year old daughter and I bumped into a couple standing in front of their home. It was destroyed. The roof was gone, a few interior walls were standing but most of the exterior walls were just piles of brick. The couple pointed to an interior white door that was still standing (the exterior walls to that room were gone) and said, “do you see that white door? We were all huddle behind that door when the tornado ripped the roof off the house. The air was thick with debris flying around and we all just clutched each other until it finally passed. In front of that door used to be our bedroom (there were no walls standing). We’re so grateful that the four of us made it out without a scratch.” And that made me think. People are so resilient. Events in our lives can break our hearts but somehow we cannot be defeated. Like these sculptures, our hearts get tangled, bruised and battered but still remain full of hope and joy. We all emerge, changed from experiences but eventually, hopeful for the future. It became clear that this twisted metal was the perfect metaphor. To take this material which had been so tortured by this tornado and create something vibrant and beautiful. This work, born of the tragedy created by the climate crisis and super storms, is an examination of the impact of the “new normal...

Mancarella's sculptures are from the series titled "Elements". Formal design principles are the basis for Mancarella's work which is typically made of wood and metal. Taken individua...

Joe Davidson’s recent body of work consists of interlocking forms stacked one on top of another. Upon closer inspection, one can see the remnants of the ...

"Sargasso" hand-carved wooden New Brutalism wall sculpture by Hudson Valley artist, Stephen Walling, made in 2013 36 x 40 x 2.5 inches Carved wood and ac...

"Shore of the Huan He" hand-carved wooden wall sculpture by Hudson Valley artist, Stephen Walling, made in 2014 24 x 36 x 2 inches Carved wood and acrylic paint on panel Signed, ver...

"Hip, Hip, Hooray!", hand-carved wooden wall sculpture by Hudson Valley artist, Stephen Walling, made in 2019 24 x 24 x 2.5 inches Carved wood and acrylic paint on panel Signed, ver...

Abstract geometric three-dimensional wood wall sculpture resembling stacked books in blue, grey, and white "Blue Books", hand-carved wooden wall sculpture ...