Artist Biography
Erik Wolken was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1961 and received his BA in
geography from West Virginia University in1983. He spent the spring of 1988
studying furniture design with Chris Weiland at Indiana University of
Pennsylvania, and then spent the fall and winter of 88 /89 in the Program in Fine
Woodworking at Haywood Community College in Clyde, North Carolina. From
1989 to 1995, he worked as a cabinetmaker for Woodpecker Enterprises in Apex,
NC. In 1995, he opened his own studio in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and has
been working on private commissions and showing his work nationally since.
Artist's Statement
I build functional sculpture, work that serves both a sculptural aesthetic and a utilitarian function. There is a rhythm and poetry I seek to create in my pieces, a flow to the lines, a confluence of color and texture that makes a complete statement.My pieces are often the result of a process of discovery. Seldom do I start with a plan written in stone but a series of rough pencil sketches and the belief that I can divine the meaning of a piece in the process of building it.
My work has been exhibited nationwide in juried shows and galleries and has been published in American Craft magazine and Object Lessons: Beauty and Meaning in Art.
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