John Wittenberg
Shroud
Media: Handmade cotton paper, on wood frame
Size: 10" x 10" x 1"
$400
Artist Statement:
My eye is drawn to the physical world, how light and shadow play on surfaces, the way nature cycles between growth, decay and renewal. I observe the beauty of imperfections, how objects change in varying light, and at the nexus where different surfaces meet. I have been inspired by these transformations my entire career.
The dimensions of my sculpture varies from small intimate experiences, to large pieces that interact with the environment. I prefer to work in steel, stone, wood, and paper, all of which allows me to explore my ideas. I begin with an idea and as it develops, it ultimately evolves and changes. This is the process that drives me.
My most recent outdoor sculpture is “Furrow.” It was inspired by the plowed farm fields on the North Fork of Long Island. I was attracted to the way light moved across the surfaces of the plowed earth, and by the vanishing points of each row in the distant fields. It is my hope that as people observe similar fields, they may appreciate nature’s forms and abstractions—its weight and the play of light and that when they view any of my works they see the world through a different eye.
Biography
John Wittenberg Studio is based in New York City and Southold, N.Y. Wittenberg’s work employs a wide range of materials that include natural and carved stone, welded steel, wood, graphite, and paper to create both small intimate, and large scale site-specific pieces. Public art commissions include: South Burlington Middle School, South Burlington, VT, Battery Park Urban Renewal, Burlington, VT and Otter Creek Park, Vergennes, VT. In 1985 he received a One Percent for the Arts grant to create a public sculpture for the Brooklyn Public Library, Cortelyou Branch. Wittenberg’s most recent work is inspired by the plowed farm fields of the North Fork. Recently working in the community studio at Brooklyn’s Dieu Donne added new emphasis to works on paper and has become a significant part of his visual vocabulary. Recent group exhibitions include: VSOP Gallery, Greenport, NY, East End Arts, Riverhead, NY and Guild Hall, East Hampton, NY.
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