Kelly Bugden + Van Wifvat

Sculpture; Portal

2018

The artistic collaboration of Kelly Bugden + Van Wifvat has produced a thought-provoking body of sculptures, paintings, and constructions. Nature, childhood memories, and everyday archetypes take shape in unexpected combinations of materials. The works emerged as the tactile and visual senses channeled the ritualistic power and materiality of selected artifacts. The resulting objects exist in a space between what they were originally and what they could become. A wheel, for example, is distorted as if seen through a prism. Their collaboration grew out of years of shaping materials into one-of-a-kind objects. Intuitively, the process of creating with their hands took an inward turn. Prism is a travelogue through memories and dreams, yielding abstract forms that capture moments of transformation. Van Wifvat grew up with eight siblings and studied sculpture and environmental design in Minneapolis at MCAD. In 1979, he opened a storefront art gallery to promote the work of local artists. The space featured printed materials—art books, periodicals, fanzines, and postcard’s. Wifvat moved to New York in 1983 to study at the Fashion Institute of Technology and Parsons. In 1987, he co-founded Van Gregory & Norton design studio, specializing in convex mirrors and curtain hardware...

During the COVID-19 lockdown, many faced swirling negative thoughts….. Atlanta sculptor, Eileen Braun, worked through the lockdown challenge and re-channeled that negative energy into her hands. As her hands cradled and examined the materials, her mind welcomed being in the moment and being grateful for what was. Those positive thoughts became her mantra while creating. Accepting change without judgement. On occasion, accepting the days that didn’t change, while the materials spoke anew. She explains that “the resulting forms display my interwoven emotions: quiet, complex, absorbed, relaxed, serious, playful, flirtatious, mothering, smothering and ultimately, joyful.” Her installation, OPEN SPACES: Espaces Ouverts, is a profusion of forms suspended in our two front facing plaza windows. As they float, sight lines...

The artistic collaboration of Kelly Bugden + Van Wifvat has produced a thought-provoking body of sculptures, paintings, and constructions. Nature, childhood memories, and everyday ar...

The artistic collaboration of Kelly Bugden + Van Wifvat has produced a thought-provoking body of sculptures, paintings, and constructions. Nature, childhood memories, and everyday ar...

Portal welded steel Measures: 8.5 x 12.5 x 17.5 in. This abstract steel sculpture explores the balance between solidity and openness. A vertical arm rises from an irregularly shaped base, terminating in a cantilevered form that projects outward. The composition is simple yet evocative, suggesting movement or transition—an architectural gesture frozen in time. Surface textures, visible welds, and the rawness of the metal emphasize the hand of the maker and the industrial origins of the material. The work invites contemplation of spatial tension, negative space, and the quiet power of restraint. Both grounded and reaching, it speaks to themes of structure, memory, and impermanence. Artist statement: I work with materials that have already lived a life — steel that’s rusted, bent, scarred. These imperfections hold a kind of quiet beauty, one that speaks not of utility but of presence. Though my work sometimes carries figurative echoes, I’m drawn to the non-figurative: the essential, the raw. Steel, once loud and forceful in its industrial context, becomes still and intimate in this new form. Each composition emerges through direct interaction with found parts. I rarely alter the materials beyond what is necessary. Instead, I allow them to dictate form — interlocking, balancing, and aligning until their relationship feels complete. The process is intuitive, the engineering elemental. Art, for me, is a spiritual act — a practice of selflessness and stillness. It doesn't seek acclaim or commercial appeal. It simply exists, honest and sacred. Biography Scott Gordon (b. 1966, Ridgewood, NJ) lives and works in Vermont. He studied business at the University of Denver and earned an MFA in creative writing from the University of Washington. During his time in Seattle, he worked at David Gulassa...

Medium: Charred wood dye and lacquer As an artist I strive to create elegant sculptures that capture the true essence of the subject matter. Form, line and surface are used as the ...

John Wolfe's Mixed Media Abstract Sculpture, "Untitled Assemblage #S 3-23" brings together wood, steel, ceramic elements, and acrylic paint. The warm colors of the wood and painted ceramic elements soften the feel of the rectilinear arrangement. The shallow depth of the work gives the sculpture a kind of "drawing" quality while the shadows it casts lend a more expansive feel. The heavy, dark wood base anchors all aspects of the work in place. This work is the perfect tabletop piece. It's large enough to command attention, but also subtle in its open framework arrangement. John Wolfe was born in Vernon...

Artist/Designer; Manufacturer: Peter Reginato (American, b. 1945) Marking(s); notes: signed; 2006 Materials: resin/plastic over armature Dimensions (H, W, D): 28"h, 20"w, 14"d (as me...