Biography
Sculpture was created to donate auction proceeds to World Bicycle Relief.
More info here: target="_blank">www.gsdesign.com/blog/sram-part-project
Excerpt from the article, "Sculpted for home: NIU Art Museum exhibits sculpture on a smaller scale", By ANDREW MITCHELL amitchell@daily-chronicle.com:
They're very meticulous the way they are put together, Bennett said. (The exhibit, In the House: Sculpture for the Home, which Bennett curated, is one of three running through Oct. 29 at the museum, and it features the works from eight artists, using a variety of materials from old baseball bats to office staples to create original and organic-looking art.)" John Balsley is the featured artist in the adjoining gallery:
"That level of meticulousness also can be seen in the work of John Balsley, an NIU alum whose work is the focus of the exhibit, In the Studio and in the Garden: John Balsley Sculpture and Collage.
Curated by associate professor Lee Sido, the exhibit helps give Balsleys intricate artwork space to be considered on its own individual merits something Balsley said is harder to do from his cluttered studio.
I never to get to see [my work] like this, he said. But I really like the space. Im really happy to have a show here.
While much of the work is informed by the sophistication found in primitive art, one sculpture titled Fallen, aims for a more refined aesthetic.
Made from scrap aluminum parts, the piece came as a kind of reaction to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. At the time, Balsley said many in the New York art world were questioning whether to continue working as the country mourned the dead.
I was determined to make something really refined, instead of being depressed, he said.
The hard part was, unlike his other pieces, which he could see taking shape as they were being completed, Fallen, spent months as a pile of aluminum parts he would refine and shape, before finally assembling the piece.
Seeing it finished in a gallery he said helps him realize the creative process to a satisfying conclusion."
More info here: target="_blank">www.gsdesign.com/blog/sram-part-project
Excerpt from the article, "Sculpted for home: NIU Art Museum exhibits sculpture on a smaller scale", By ANDREW MITCHELL amitchell@daily-chronicle.com:
They're very meticulous the way they are put together, Bennett said. (The exhibit, In the House: Sculpture for the Home, which Bennett curated, is one of three running through Oct. 29 at the museum, and it features the works from eight artists, using a variety of materials from old baseball bats to office staples to create original and organic-looking art.)" John Balsley is the featured artist in the adjoining gallery:
"That level of meticulousness also can be seen in the work of John Balsley, an NIU alum whose work is the focus of the exhibit, In the Studio and in the Garden: John Balsley Sculpture and Collage.
Curated by associate professor Lee Sido, the exhibit helps give Balsleys intricate artwork space to be considered on its own individual merits something Balsley said is harder to do from his cluttered studio.
I never to get to see [my work] like this, he said. But I really like the space. Im really happy to have a show here.
While much of the work is informed by the sophistication found in primitive art, one sculpture titled Fallen, aims for a more refined aesthetic.
Made from scrap aluminum parts, the piece came as a kind of reaction to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. At the time, Balsley said many in the New York art world were questioning whether to continue working as the country mourned the dead.
I was determined to make something really refined, instead of being depressed, he said.
The hard part was, unlike his other pieces, which he could see taking shape as they were being completed, Fallen, spent months as a pile of aluminum parts he would refine and shape, before finally assembling the piece.
Seeing it finished in a gallery he said helps him realize the creative process to a satisfying conclusion."
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