Master Series
A Solo Exhibition of Works by Carey Netherton
Ruminations
Statement
"Every object tells a story if you know how to read it" -Henry Ford
As a metaphorical thinker, I ruminate on almost everything I experience. Matter, materials, and objects carry messages. Whether realized or not, these messages, quite often, are of our own making. I am interested in the relation between matter and meaning. My sculptures are outward expressions of inner contemplations and the result of my interaction with objects and materials. I consider this dialogue crucial to my practice. Materials are, both, the initiation and completion of the process. These pieces, in the broadest sense, are considerations of the way we humans are outgrowths of a physical, material world but perpetually strive to become part of someplace wholly other through our imaginings, reasonings, and machinations. In a more personal respect, they embody my appreciation for formal interactions, as well as my inclination to arrange and order while considering some of the questions, contradictions, and wonders of my living experience.
Carey Netherton was born and raised in East Central Illinois and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in both 3-D Studio Art and Philosophy from Eastern Illinois University in 1998. In 2000, he became an Instructional-Supervisory Staff member at the Johnson Atelier Technical Institute of Sculpture in Hamilton, New Jersey. At the Atelier, Carey assisted many internationally renowned sculptors with the production of numerous works of contemporary cast metal sculpture. He completed a Master of Fine Arts degree in Sculpture at Southern Illinois University–Carbondale in 2008 and then relocated to Minneapolis, Minnesota where he worked as an assistant granite sculptor for two years. Concurrently, Carey taught welding, blacksmithing and metal casting at the Minnetonka Center for the Arts in Wayzata, Minnesota and was later promoted to the Sculpture Studio Manager. In 2014, Carey became a member of the Art and Design faculty at Southern Illinois University–Carbondale where he is the Art Foundry Supervisor and 3-D Foundations Coordinator. Carey’s work has been exhibited nationally, internationally, and is in numerous private collections. He lives in rural Murphysboro, Illinois with his wife, Deb Sawyer, their two cats, Grover and Newt (pictured), two fish, and plants galore.