Corban Walker
VA Residency: November 12 - 16, 2008
Conversation with Artist: Sunday, November 16 2PM, Theater

Visiting Artist Residency Project
The recent work has focused on using glass to create architectural sculptural objects. The objects appear as large models or elaborate constructions that present the viewer with an unusual perception of scale. These sculptures are assembled on site by building up layers of float glass or stacking long hollow objects upon each other to a precarious result.

For the residency at Tacoma I will be using a universal cast iron mould to blow several rectilinear “tubes” that will be cut and polished and stacked into new glass objects. As with the original float glass pieces I am interested in pursuing the boundaries of glass-blowing as utilizing the parameters blowing into a rectilinear mould.

The dimension of the “tubes” will vary considerably from piece to piece adding to the chaotic assemblage of each sculpture. I am very interested in the qualities and discrepancies of assembled blown objects. By stacking them into architectural constructions the material presents a number of contradictions that I find rewarding; transparency becomes refraction, edge becomes surface and weightlessness becomes mass. There will be some manipulation of the blown objects that I hope to achieve in terms of cold-working the pieces. I envisage grinding/sand-blasting the “tubes” on different surfaces to explore levels of transformation within each piece. As with any intensive residency, the idea for the “tubes” is a starting point from where to explore the results of work experience.

Artist Biography
Corban Walker (b. 1967, Dublin, Ireland) gained recognition for his sculpture and installations relating to environmental constructs and how one interacts and navigates his surroundings.

Since graduating with honors from the National College of Art and Design, Dublin, with a degree in Fine Art Sculpture in 1992, Walker has employed various mediums, at times painting and drawing, creating site-specific installations and using photography or digital art, to convey his ideas.

Two years later, Walker’s first solo show was exhibited at the City Arts Centre in Dublin. Since then, he has mounted solo exhibitions in England, France, Chicago, New York and Slovenia and realized six public commissions for important institutions such as the Bank of Scotland Headquarters, Dublin; Mitsubishi Estate Co. Ltd., Tokyo; and the University College, Dublin. His work is part of numerous public and private collections around the world.

In 2001 the Arts Council of Ireland awarded him with the prestigious Visual Arts Bursary. He has since received the prize two more times.

Corban Walker first exhibited with PaceWildenstein in the fall of 2000, and his work was included in the gallery’s Logical Conclusion exhibition in spring 2004. The artist immigrated to the United States in 2005, and now splits his time between New York and Dublin, where his studio is located.