Will Clift
biography |
portfolio | artists listing
b. 1978, Santa Fe, New Mexico
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Central New Mexico College, Rancho Rio, NM
Fontainbleu III Hotel, Miami, FL
Four Seasons Hotel, Denver, CO
Interleadership Partners, Hong Kong
McCune Charitable Trust, Santa Fe, NM
Ritz Carlton Hotel, Miami, FL
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2011 William, Will and Carola Clift, Untitled Artspace, Oklahoma City, OK
2010 Turned & Sculptured Wood, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Suspended & Standing: Solo Exhibition, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2009 Group Show, OBRA Galeria, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Group Show, Gerald Peters Gallery, New York, NY
Group Show, Diehl Gallery, Jackson, WY
Exhibition of Gallery Artists, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Group Show, Melissa Morgan Fine Art, Palm Desert, CA
2008 Will Clift, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Exhibit for the Texas Sculpture Symposium, Gerald Peters Gallery, Dallas, TX
Pat Lasch and Will Clift, Melissa Morgan Fine Art, Palm Desert, CA
Group Show, Blink Gallery, Boulder, CO
2007 Abstraction of Consciousness: Solo Exhibition, Galeria Ora-Ora, Hong Kong
Will Clift, Anne Reed Gallery, Sun Vallery, ID
Silver Lining, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Hong Kong International Contemporary Art Fair, Galerie Ora-Ora, Hong Kong
2006 Gesture in Balance: Solo Exhibition, Geral Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Best of Colorado Artists, Denver International Airport, Denver, CO
Ink, Clay, Wood and Steel, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Exhibition of Gallery Artists, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2005 Winter Contemporary Show, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Group Show, Takada Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Baker's Dozen, Robert Brown Gallery, Washington, DC
Color, Found Objects Colorado, Denver, CO
2003 Fourteen Sculptures: Solo Exhibition, Photoeye Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Exhibitions of Gallery Artists, Photoeye Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2002 Precious Objects, Cantor Center for Visual Arts, Palo Alto, CA
Karl Blossfeldt, Images, and Will Clift, Sculpture, Photoeye Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
2009 Sculptors of the Rockies. F+W Media, New York, NY.
2007 Hong Kong Economic Journal. August.
Elle Decoration Magazine, Hong Kong. September.
Hinge: Design in Focus Magazine. Cranium! September.
Guangzhou Daily. August 4.
Hong Kong This Week. "Love Culture." August 9.
MPW Magazine, Mingpao Weekly. "Focus." August 11.
2006 Santa Fe New Mexican. "Pasatiempo." Weideman, Paul. October 27.
THE Magazine. "Will Clift: Gesture in Balance." More, Michael. December. p. 55
Albuquerque Journal. "Graceful Gestures." Indyke, Dottie. Oct. 27. pp. 4-5
Southwest Art Magazine. "Taking Shape." Hougland, Stacie. July. p. 195
2004 ARTnews. "Will Clift." Indyke, Dottie. January. p. 142
2003 THE Magazine. "Will Clift: Fourteen Sculptures." Carlisle, Susanna. Nov. p. 41
Albuquerque Journal. "Stillness in Unceasing Motion." More, Michael. Sept. 12.
Santa Fe New Mexican. "An Eye for Equilibrium." Weideman, Paul. Sept. 12. Pp. 52-53
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
Sculpture is distinct from the other visual arts in that the medium is acted upon by gravity. I explore this quality in my work by using balance - the confluence of form and gravity - as tangibly as I do wood or metal. My sculptures consist of intersecting components that support each other, without reliance on glue or nails, to stand or suspend in perfect equilibrium. The physical form and the balance are inseparable from each other, both conceptually and structurally.
By emphasizing this relationship among form, gravity, and balance, I explore the physicality that we, as humans, instinctively understand through our own bodies. Balance occurs at the point between order and disorder, between motion and stillness. There is an inherent tension that can equally easily produce a sense of utter tranquility or one of tenuous unease. By exploring the edges between these opposing sensations, I try to reveal a sense of motion, gesture, and even dance without incorporating explicit movement - to express dynamism through a static form.
My sculptures may be seen as pure abstractions, or may suggest one or another object. Each sculpture begins with a form or movement that I notice in the world around me, or even a feeling from within me; but as I work, this origin often becomes indistinguishable, even to me. I develop the forms as sketches on paper. This drawn quality persists in the finished piece when seen from certain angles; it makes a link between the two-dimensional and three-dimensional.
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Central New Mexico College, Rancho Rio, NM
Fontainbleu III Hotel, Miami, FL
Four Seasons Hotel, Denver, CO
Interleadership Partners, Hong Kong
McCune Charitable Trust, Santa Fe, NM
Ritz Carlton Hotel, Miami, FL
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2011 William, Will and Carola Clift, Untitled Artspace, Oklahoma City, OK
2010 Turned & Sculptured Wood, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Suspended & Standing: Solo Exhibition, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2009 Group Show, OBRA Galeria, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Group Show, Gerald Peters Gallery, New York, NY
Group Show, Diehl Gallery, Jackson, WY
Exhibition of Gallery Artists, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Group Show, Melissa Morgan Fine Art, Palm Desert, CA
2008 Will Clift, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Exhibit for the Texas Sculpture Symposium, Gerald Peters Gallery, Dallas, TX
Pat Lasch and Will Clift, Melissa Morgan Fine Art, Palm Desert, CA
Group Show, Blink Gallery, Boulder, CO
2007 Abstraction of Consciousness: Solo Exhibition, Galeria Ora-Ora, Hong Kong
Will Clift, Anne Reed Gallery, Sun Vallery, ID
Silver Lining, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Hong Kong International Contemporary Art Fair, Galerie Ora-Ora, Hong Kong
2006 Gesture in Balance: Solo Exhibition, Geral Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Best of Colorado Artists, Denver International Airport, Denver, CO
Ink, Clay, Wood and Steel, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Exhibition of Gallery Artists, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2005 Winter Contemporary Show, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Group Show, Takada Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Baker's Dozen, Robert Brown Gallery, Washington, DC
Color, Found Objects Colorado, Denver, CO
2003 Fourteen Sculptures: Solo Exhibition, Photoeye Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Exhibitions of Gallery Artists, Photoeye Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2002 Precious Objects, Cantor Center for Visual Arts, Palo Alto, CA
Karl Blossfeldt, Images, and Will Clift, Sculpture, Photoeye Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
2009 Sculptors of the Rockies. F+W Media, New York, NY.
2007 Hong Kong Economic Journal. August.
Elle Decoration Magazine, Hong Kong. September.
Hinge: Design in Focus Magazine. Cranium! September.
Guangzhou Daily. August 4.
Hong Kong This Week. "Love Culture." August 9.
MPW Magazine, Mingpao Weekly. "Focus." August 11.
2006 Santa Fe New Mexican. "Pasatiempo." Weideman, Paul. October 27.
THE Magazine. "Will Clift: Gesture in Balance." More, Michael. December. p. 55
Albuquerque Journal. "Graceful Gestures." Indyke, Dottie. Oct. 27. pp. 4-5
Southwest Art Magazine. "Taking Shape." Hougland, Stacie. July. p. 195
2004 ARTnews. "Will Clift." Indyke, Dottie. January. p. 142
2003 THE Magazine. "Will Clift: Fourteen Sculptures." Carlisle, Susanna. Nov. p. 41
Albuquerque Journal. "Stillness in Unceasing Motion." More, Michael. Sept. 12.
Santa Fe New Mexican. "An Eye for Equilibrium." Weideman, Paul. Sept. 12. Pp. 52-53
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
Sculpture is distinct from the other visual arts in that the medium is acted upon by gravity. I explore this quality in my work by using balance - the confluence of form and gravity - as tangibly as I do wood or metal. My sculptures consist of intersecting components that support each other, without reliance on glue or nails, to stand or suspend in perfect equilibrium. The physical form and the balance are inseparable from each other, both conceptually and structurally.
By emphasizing this relationship among form, gravity, and balance, I explore the physicality that we, as humans, instinctively understand through our own bodies. Balance occurs at the point between order and disorder, between motion and stillness. There is an inherent tension that can equally easily produce a sense of utter tranquility or one of tenuous unease. By exploring the edges between these opposing sensations, I try to reveal a sense of motion, gesture, and even dance without incorporating explicit movement - to express dynamism through a static form.
My sculptures may be seen as pure abstractions, or may suggest one or another object. Each sculpture begins with a form or movement that I notice in the world around me, or even a feeling from within me; but as I work, this origin often becomes indistinguishable, even to me. I develop the forms as sketches on paper. This drawn quality persists in the finished piece when seen from certain angles; it makes a link between the two-dimensional and three-dimensional.