Seattle artist Edward Wicklander's recent body of work showcases the artist's ability as a woodcarver as well as his unique brand of humorous narrative. His intricately carved surfaces reveal a deep reverence for materials, while his subject matter stimulates the imagination, as his eccentric storytelling eludes concrete meaning.
Wicklander is a craftsman of diverse talents. His work involves many different techniques including wood carving, blown and cast glass, metalsmithing and welding, bronze casting, and an intriguing combination of materials. He sees his forte as his "ability to use very different materials to their greatest advantage." As with many of Wicklander's intricate sculptures, there are clever surprises to be found if you look closely enough.
Click to enlarge any image:
ALPHA CAT, 2007
Carved and painted wood
19 x 19 x 8 inches
$5,000.
WHITE MAN'S TOTEM, 2008
Carved old-growth Douglas Fir and steel
77 x 22 x 22 inches
$18,000
WALNUT TABBY (JUNIOR), 2008
Carved walnut, horse tail hair, ivory nut, enamel paint and steel base
26 x 33 x 8 inches
$10,000
WALNUT TABBY (GIRL), 2008
Carved walnut, horse tail hair, ivory nut, enamel paint and steel base
26 x 33 x 8 inches
$10,000
HAINT BULB, 2005
Blown glass, stitched rawhide, welded steel and plastic
22 x 12 x 12 inches
$5,000
DEINFLATIONARY SUITE (#3, #4, #5), 2004
Welded steel and fabricated copper
18.5 x 19 x 6 inches
SOLD
Detail below; click to enlarge:
INNER TUBE, 2005
Welded steel, stitched rawhide and rubber
26 x 26 x 7 inches
$5,000.
REFLECTIONS, 2005
Carved and painted wood, stitched rawhide
24 x 12 x 4 inches
$4,000.
Detail below; click to enlarge:
BALANCE, 2004
Cast and fabricated bronze, welded steel
18.5 x 8.5 x 8.5 inches
$4,000
Details below; click to enlarge:
SHROUD, 2005
Welded steel
56 x 26 x 26 inches
$12,000.
Detail below; click to enlarge:
DRIPPING HEAD, 2005
Welded steel, lead, and marble
7 x 16.5 x 14 inches
$5,500.
FOG, 2004
Carved wood, fabricated copper and steel
71 x 12.5 x 12.5 inches
$7,000.
Details below; click to enlarge:
NOTHING UP MY SLEEVE, 2005
Velvet, steel, oak, copper, carved and dyed wood, light bulbs and electrical cord
25 x 18 x 15 inches
$6,000.
Details below; click to enlarge:
SMALL GHOST TREE, 2004
Carved wood, Plexiglass, silver and goldleaf
27.5 x 9.5 x 2.5 inches
$3,000.
Details below; click to enlarge:
GHOST TREE, 2005
Carved wood, Plexiglass, silver and gold leaf
51 x 20 x 4 inches
$5,000.
Details below; click to enlarge:
UNTITLED (sconce #1, #2 & #3), 2005
Blown glass, stitched rawhide, welded steel, antifreeze and rubber stopper
10.5 x 8.5 x 9 inches each
$3,000. each
Other Available Work
Click to enlarge any image:
FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, 2001
Carved and painted wood, metal spring
18 x 9 x 9 inches
$4,000.
JERRY (GARCIA), 1997 (two views above)
Carved and painted wood, blown glass, copper, hidden acid tab
17 x 10 x 10 inches
$10,000.
FACELIFT, 2001
Carved wood, metal
32 x 13 x 7 inches
$6,000.
Detail below; click to enlarge:
CAT HOLLER, 2002
Carved and painted wood, bronze 25 x 11.5 x 4.5 inches
$5,000.
Details below; click to enlarge:
CROTCH CUT, 1988
Mixed media 36 x 24 x 17 inches
$8,000.
BARBED WIRE TORNADO, 1983
Mixed media 96 x 36 x 36 inches
$10,000.
HAND HELD (port hole), 1997
Welded steel, carved wood, velvet, copper leaf, Plexiglas
14 x 10 x 4 inches
$3,000.
THE PROFESSOR (Portrait of Casey Stengel), 1998
Ash, pine, fir, welded steel 23 x 18 x 6 inches
$12,000.
Details below; click to enlarge:
HARSH PRUNING, 1994
Carved and painted wood 23 x 10 x 5 inches
$2,500.
Detail below; click to enlarge:
JEWELED TREE, 1993
Blown glass, welded steel, electroformed copper & jewels
36 x 14 x 14 inches
$6,000.
Details below; click to enlarge:
JUNKIE, 1988
Mixed media, 41 x 15 x 12 inches
$10,000.
Details below; click to enlarge:
LEFT BRAIN (double red head), 1998
Welded steel, composition leaf, neon, electric cord
29 x 10 x 6 inches
$8,000.
SAP (leg), 1996
Carved wood, blown glass, welded steel, rubber paint, resin
28 x 9 x 13 inches
$7,000.
Details below; click to enlarge:
MEASURE OF CONTAINMENT (arm), 1993
Carved wood, blown glass, welded steel, rubber paint, ruler
28 x 9 x 13 inches
$8,000.
NO TITLE (book house), 1983
Mixed media 84 x 24 x 18 inches
$3,000.
ROOTS AND ALL, 1994
Carved and painted wood with electroformed copper
31 x 11.5 x 5.5 inches
$2,500.
SINKING SHIP, 1986
Mixed media 12 x 8 x 8 inches
$5,000.
SLICE-O-MYSTERY (cake), 1985
Mixed media 12 x 10 x 10 inches
$2,000.
SNAKE TROPHY, 1986
Mixed media 48 x 20 x 14 inches
$10,000.
Detail below; click to enlarge:
ST. SEBASTIAN, 1988
Mixed media 38 x 13 x 13 inches
$8,000.
Details below; click to enlarge:
TIKKI HEAD, 1985
Mixed media 40 x 10 x 5 inches
$3,000.
UNNATURAL SELECTION, 1989
Mixed media 37.25 x 9 x 6 inches
$3,000.
Details below; click to enlarge:
UNTITLED (LARGE SCREWBULB), 1992
Welded steel, blown glass, and electroformed copper Mixed media
67 x 18 x 18 inches
$7,000.
Details below; click to enlarge:
VAN EPPS PASS, 1994
Carved and painted wood with cast lead
46 x 25 x 9 inches
$6,000.
VOODOO ATLAS, 1984
Mixed media 26 x 12 x 12 inches
$10,000.
WHEEL OF MISFORTUNE, 1987
Mixed media 54 x 36 x 10 inches
$15,000.
WOE (relief w/cloud), 1998
Carved and painted wood, welded copper, cast bronze, glass
33 x 11 x 4.5 inches
$5,000.
YOUNG ROY (ORBISON), 1989
Mixed media 39 x 22 x 14 inches
$10,000.
Details below; click to enlarge:
Wicklander was born 1952 and raised in Puyallup, WA. He was educated at Central Washington University, Ellensburg. He received his MFA in 1980 from University of Illinois, Champaign. He lives and works in Seattle.
Wicklander has received numerous awards and honors including, Art Matters Fellowship Award, New York (1996); GAP Grant, Artist Trust, Seattle (1993), Artist Trust Fellowship Award, Seattle (1990); National Endowment for the Arts Individual Artist's Fellowship Grant in Sculpture (1988); and Artist in Residence, Pilchuck School, Stanwood, WA (1986). In addition, his work has been included in group exhibitions nationally, such as: Seattle Sculpture 1927-1987, Bumberbiennale, Seattle (1987); Northwest Now, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA (1986); Northwest International Art Competition, Whatcom Museum of History and Art, Bellingham, WA (1986); Art Quake, Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR (1986); Neo-York/Seattle, Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle (1985); Painting and Sculpture 1985, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA (1985); Glass America, 10th Anniversary Exhibition, Heller Gallery, New York (1984); and A Little Erotic '84, Pinnacle Gallery, Rochester, NY (1984).
The artist's work is included in the collections of, Del Mar College, Corpus Christi; Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA; Seattle Arts Commission; Swedish Hospital, Seattle; University of Georgia, Athens; Washington State Arts Commission; and Frederick R. Weisman Museum, New Orleans; as well as others.
Wicklander's Strange and Clever Sculpture
Wicklander is probably best known for his life-size wooden likeness of Little Richard (at right), which was acquired in 1988 at the Chicago International Art Expo by the collection of Fred Weisman and is now ensconced in Weisman?s Museum in New Orleans.
Other celebrity portraits include the late Grateful Dead guitarist and singer Jerry Garcia, Roy Orbison and of folk-hero Casey Stengel. A ring of red roses surrounds a "kind" and young Jerry Garcia. Roses are a well-known Grateful Dead motif and Wicklander combines the blooms with thriving stems of poppy plants. The hallucinogenic theme is carried throughout the work, most notably in the rainbow-colored variegated metallic leaf base directly referencing a common type of sheet acid.
As with many of Wicklander?s intricate sculptures, there are clever surprises to be found if you look closely enough.
The Stengel bust was an elegant construction of carved wood, gears and levers in which Stengel, seen in bas-relief profile, removes his pieced metal hat to reveal a wooden bird sitting atop his head. The image references a story about the batter?s infamous response to an unhappy crowd that was heckling him upon his return to his old playing turf, now as a member of the opposing team.
"My work is fueled by a personal vision that often reflects my own peculiar observations of our contemporary society and environment. The combination of diverse materials and a sometimes startling juxtaposition of objects are important considerations in the development of my sculpture as an identifiable body of work.
Some pieces are completed with the original concept I had in mind, while other times intuition takes over, resulting in works that were never planned but which please me a great deal. I find this method of working spontaneous and surprising -- and I love the element of the unexpected idea that becomes unprovoked reality as I work.
My work makes an immediate and sometimes confrontational statement which, upon closer inspection, allows for deeper interpretation."
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Wicklander is probably best known for his life-size wooden likeness of Little Richard (at right), which was acquired in 1988 at the Chicago International Art Expo by the collection of Fred Weisman and is now ensconced in Weisman?s Museum in New Orleans.