| HOWARD KALISH PO Box 220088 Brooklyn NY 11222 P 718-389-1258 F 718-609-0790 howardkalish@aol.com |
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These are abstract sculptures in a variety of formats: large public sculpture, free-standing sculpture, relief sculpture, pedestal sculpture, tabletop sculpture, and small sculpture. The sculptures are made of bronze, steel and cement. The esthetic basis of my work is growth and structure, the various ways forms are put together and become themselves, in nature and in the way the mind perceives it. I don’t try to render these things by picturing or copying natural models such as organic or inorganic forms, but rather by following analogous principles in the making of the sculpture to the way forms are made in the universe. The "look" of the finished piece is very much determined, just as it is in nature, by how it came into being and grew, and what influences were brought to bear on it along the way. Just as in nature, the most important factor in determining what it will become is the overriding structural principle. I explore and express in visual terms connections, many parts making a whole, though the whole, while complete, always conveys a sense of open-endedness, of further possibilities. Most of the sculptures I make are open: they can be seen through, and the juxtaposition of the forms against each other, and the background, changes as one walks around them. They are also polychrome, and the interplay of the colors, their overlappings and interconnections, also changes. This aspect of my work is dramatically dependent upon the setting. If a piece "works", it seems to do so in most settings, but surprisingly and differently in each case. When I work for a particular site this allows me to interact with architecture and landscaping in novel and visually memorable ways. I have developed a technique which allows a great deal of freedom within a very solid structure. The sculptures are made of pigmented cement over a welded steel armature, or bronze using a polychrome patina. The color is an integral part of the sculpture. The color in the bronzes is created using chemical patinas. In the cement works, cement is mixed with pigment and an acrylic polymer medium rather than water, which increases its strength, durability and resistance to the elements in any climate. The resulting sculpture is permanent and virtually maintenance-free. |