About the Item

For almost a decade artist Jim Wade spent his summers and several winters working in a studio in Coalbrookdale, England - the the place where the Industrial Revolution was born. Through the 1700s and 1800s, it was the most industrialized region of England, with iron foundries, factories, coal mines, and brickworks. The pollution of industry turned the air and land black with soot and, as a result, the region became known as The Black Country.

Wade's use of soft patterns comes from a search for pattern making materials that capture the essence of land. The patterns are created from blanket-stitched scraps of Carhartt trousers worn during studio work. The canvas is sewn into sacks filled with foundry greensand to allow them to be formed into undulating patterns. Jokingly, these patterns became known around the foundry as "pocket landscapes". The presence of man in the landscape is seen in architectural and agricultural forms made of wooden and 3D printed patterns.

Sand molding these patterns does not limit the detail that can be achieved in the castings. Fine threads, canvass texture, and stitching of string are all captured in the metal casting. The soft patterns allow complex forms to be created more economically in the foundry process.

Cast Iron, Oak; 4.5" x 10" x 7"; $$$

About the Artist

James Wade studied art at the University of Kentucky and the University of Georgia, earning a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1996. Wade's sculpture and drawings have been included in over 100 exhibitions across the United States, including a 2017 exhibition at the Metal Museum, as well as in England, Bolivia, and Italy. In addition to maintaining a studio on his family's land-grant farm in Lexington, Kentucky, he currently lectures and researches in the School of Art and Visual Studies at the University of Kentucky. Wade was the 2017 F.I.R.E. Conference Demonstrator.

Shipping Information

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