Anthony Howe is an accomplished artist who works with steel to create hypnotically beautiful 3D kinetic sculptures. He makes them at his Orcas Island, Washington workshop by hand and with the aid of a computer. His inspiration is born out of a desire to find elegance in things that are awkward and ugly. Anthony explains that the awkwardness of objects, such as things that bang against each other or seem physically impossible, are what draws him in and gives him ideas. He strives to make them work more beautifully and streamlines his eventual art into undulating pieces that move and flow in ways that seem to defy logic. His sculptures resemble optical illusions, as they twist and turn in on themselves then fold back out into space, and are mesmerizing to watch.
Anthony began his artistic journey after he moved to New York to become a painter. Instead, he ended up working as a superintendent at a warehouse in Manhattan and noticed all the surrounding steel. He decided to make sculptures out of the metal and explains that he was “bored with everything being static in my visual world, I wanted to see stuff move.” With that concept in mind he set to work creating visually spectacular sculptures that move easily in a breeze, as if they are dancing in the wind.
While the sculptures may look as if they were completely hand made, Anthony does use a computer to design them. He conceptualizes his basic idea on a computer program which allows him to see how a piece will later move in a 3D type visual space. Starting with a specific individual design he forms a foundation for the piece, then multiples and adds that element over and over again into patterns, that eventually make up the complete sculpture. Some of his works appear to always be in motion, even when they are not, because Anthony adds mirrors that reflect and refract light at all times. He clearly loves his craft and excels at making visual works of art. His desire to find elegance in the awkward can be seen as he continues to be inspired by movement, angles and nature.
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