When

Jun 01, 2002

Type

Sculpture

Where

Sculpture & Architecture Park

Steel
5'x3.5'x3'

Grace Knowlton's sculptures are similar in structure and vary in form. Her larger sculptures are closed spherical forms of various material - clay, concrete, styrofoam and paint, steel and copper - and are created by using an ancient technique involving the use of her bare hands. She also creates more linear works where lines of bended steel poles dance in curves and twists that sometimes reach heights of over 10 feet.

Beached Whale is somewhat a conceptually descriptive title, as this enclosed steel form lay silent and still along the edge of Omi's pond. This hollow "figure" is somber, whole, and maintains its' mood as a dark metal form. Her subject matter has transformed from seeds to bones; from elegant white corners of interior rooms to aged and broken things. "Perhaps," Knowlton says, "a metaphor for life."

Knowlton received her BFA from Smith College (MA) in 1954, and later received an MFA from Columbia University (NY) in 1982 for art and education. She has exhibited in a number of group and solo exhibitions throughout the U.S. (mainly on the East coast) since the late 1960s. She has been awarded several grants and attended a number of artist residencies. Her work is a part of private and public collections throughout the United States, Beached Whale being part of Omi's permanent collection.