ABOUT THE ARTIST

Thor Carlson is a New Orleans sculptor who received his B.F.A. from the University of Minnesota and his M. F. A. from Tulane University, where he also taught for several years.    

He currently runs his own sculpture studio and a small design and fabrication company specializing in metal architectural elements. He has exhibited in a number of group shows throughout the United States. This is his second solo exhibition at the gallery. 

IN HIS OWN WORDS

This is a collection of ideas, rather than one single subject. It pulls from various themes I use throughout my work…my love of the machine and the industrial image, the heartbreak of the American farm, and the alluring mystery of the sea.

I am fascinated by the process of making…how things are built. Sculpture allows me to be perpetually ‘playing’ at assembling and disassembling objects, which fulfils my desire to create objects the way I did as a child.

I strive to create in a manner that not only conveys an intrinsic beauty, but, captures a sense of longing. I use the quiet visual poetry of strength, paired with vulnerability…choosing and combining materials that capture this duality as in the strong, yet, cold singularity of steel and iron, and the natural beauty, tactile warmth and calming security of a variety of woods.