Wood

Item Description

Dimensions: H:7.5”     W:3”      L:4”

Material:  Bradford Pear / Painted with Golden Acrylic Gesso

Year made: 2011         

Item Special Note

Biography

Keith Holt is a self-taught wood sculptor and woodturner. He began working with wood as the culmination of a lifelong pursuit of art. After leaving college to work as a gymnastics instructor and later owning and running his own gymnasium in the Baltimore area, Keith bought his first lathe at a yard sale in 2003 and began exploring the artistic potential of wood. Over the years, he has refined his technique and sought new artistic possibilities in wood. In early 2010, he left the gymnastics world to pursue his art full-time.

Unlike the two-dimensional arts Keith studied in his younger years, multi-axis turning and carving allows him to translate into artistic works the sense of beautiful movement he encountered in gymnastics. Keith also grounds in his work in the spiritual practice that shapes his life. The seamless expression of inner spirit through outer form is the goal of every piece he makes.

Though Keith is an emerging artist in the field, some of his woodturning work has gained wide recognition. He has demonstrated not only regionally in the Mid-Atlantic but also nationally at the American Association of Woodturning (AAW). His work has gained mention in Woodturning Design, American Woodturner and Creative Woodturning, and was a featured artist in the English Woodturning Magazine. One of his pieces, “Clear View,” toured nationally with the 2008 AAW exhibition “Turn for Use II.” In 2009, Keith received a POP grant for his work in figurative multi-axis turning. In 2010 a collaborative piece was selected for the special exhibit “A Decade at Echo Lakes.”
In 2011 Jane, Arthur Mason and David Ellsworth selected the piece ‘Longing’ for the permanent collection of the American Association of Woodturning.

Keith lives in Forest Hill, Maryland with his wife, Melanie Ruckle. They have two children in college.

Artist’s Statement

The spirit within the human figure has been the basis of my inspiration. For the past few years I have explored the uses of the lathe in combination with carving to create figurative sculpture. These forms are achieved through multi-axis turning and/or carving. As an artist, I strive to allow the form of a piece to emerge from the lathe, seeing the circle of movement as an endless stream of possibilities. Though the wood is an essential part of my process, I have painted or burned some of the pieces to add strength to the architectural lines and to disguise the materials. This use of form to reveal the spirit within us provides boundless possibilities to explore.

There are several series of work. The “Meditation Series,” the “Awakening Series,” and the “Figurative Series” differ greatly, but all share a common expression of human spirit. Working with such diverse styles helps keep the processes fresh, and I continue to explore new methods for creating form.

 Keith Holt

Forest Hill, Maryland

Booth:  Emerging Artist Gallery #204