ARTIST STATEMENT

The passion I have for paper, the ideas, philosophy and history it has captured for centuries, continued to inspire me when I transitioned into sculpture. How to capture those qualities in sculptural form presented a challenge. While most of my peers were sculpting in clay and casting it into dark, heavy metal objects, I was inspired to do something different. By experimenting directly with paper and wax and working in a lost wax foundry for several years, I developed a process specifically for paper that captures all of its intimate details. The technique took me two years of tireless experimentation in Austin, Texas to develop and seven years of further development with a foundry in Thailand to perfect.

Collaboration is a key component in my process. Not only do I work with skilled technicians and engineers who help make the pieces in metal but I often begin my work in collaboration with some of the worlds most talented paper folders known as origami artists. My desire to create complex ideas and forms that begin with a simple paper square is beyond my ability. Like a musician, I have found that collaboration magnifies my initial ideas into realized masterworks of paper folding. For ten years now, I have collaborated with physicist and mathematician Dr. Robert J. Lang, who can fold almost any detail out of a single square. Master folder Michael G. LaFosse has pioneered designs that are elegant and simple out of his own handmade papers. Next generation folders like Beth Johnson add fresh design approaches and possibilities that I am excited to work beside. More than anyone else by my side, my wife Jennifer has managed the growing administration of an art studio that has become a major corporation. Her skills of organization have enabled me to continue my collaborative creativity.

Most importantly is the work we have created together. It is designed to withstand the test of time, as well as touch.  Please touch; I invite you to explore the work in its physical form. Be touched; I invite you to discover the meaning of the work, the stories and ideas beneath its surface.

To me, the single uncut piece of paper symbolizes the ultimate origin. It is the blank page, the starting point from which every creative challenge must begin. Whether you’re a mathematician, musician, writer or artist, through trial, error and perseverance, we hope to make something wonderful out of nothing. That is where all my work begins and this beginning is as much a part of the work as the ending.

ABOUT

Kevin Box was conceived in New Mexico, born in Pennsylvania, raised in Oklahoma, and received his higher education in Georgia, New York City and Texas. He now resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico with his wife Jennifer. As a boy he lived in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, beneath “the tree that escaped the crowded forest,” Frank Lloyd Wright’s only built skyscraper. Throughout high school Box studied graphic arts and apprenticed summers at an uncle’s design firm in Atlanta Georgia. It was there that Box’s passion for creativity was developed, where he formed his relationship with design and with paper.

Box received a four-year scholarship to study graphic design at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Following his sophomore year, an art history grant took him to Greece for three weeks, providing him the opportunity to see some of the great antiquities of the world first hand. The experience forever changed him, “I realized that most of my graphic design work would end up in the landfill as trash and I discovered the durability of the conversation that continues through the history of art, and I wanted to be a part of that.”

Box pursued this new passion by changing his major to Fine Art. He focused on sculpture and art in public places because in his mind, “printmaking didn’t fit the challenge.” After graduating with a BFA, he left paper behind and began working in an Atlanta foundry. He quickly realized there were more foundries to learn from in Austin, TX. For three years he labored under a self-imposed apprenticeship to become proficient in metal casting. By working in six different foundries, he attained an exhaustive knowledge of the casting techniques and fabricating processes necessary to create durable works of art. The artists he worked for mentored him through his exploration of style as well as the business of art. Eventually his dedication helped him manage and build one of the largest fine art foundries in Texas and Box used that opportunity to develop his own voice. “The best thing I ever did was to trade a raise in pay for casting rights in the foundry. I moved to the smallest town I had ever lived in to be closer to the shop and worked there dawn till dusk.”

That decision afforded him the freedom of experimentation. Ignited with inspiration, a full-service studio to work in, and a treasure trove of paper found in the warehouse of an old print shop the foundry was renting, he started working with paper again. “It took two years of tireless experimentation for me to develop the process of casting paper into bronze, another seven years to perfect, and it continues to evolve today.”

From the beginning, Box’s work received recognition from other artists and collectors alike. His unique style married paper with the age-old tradition of bronze casting and refreshed audiences. In 2004, he was elected as the youngest member of the National Sculptors Guild and was recognized by Southwest Art Magazine as one of the top 21 artists under 31 in the Southwest. Box exhibited throughout the country on a vigorous schedule of festival shows that provided him with valuable feedback and direct communication to thousands of connoisseurs and collectors. He discovered the art markets of the country and professional galleries that wanted exclusive representation of his work. He continued pursuing art in public places throughout the country and in 2006, Box married Jennifer, the love of his life, and moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico to establish a studio there. Together the couple built a studio and sculpture garden just south of Santa Fe. In 2014, they launched ORIGAMI IN THE GARDEN in collaboration with some of the world’s top origami masters, including Robert J. Lang, Michael G. LaFosse, and Beth Johnson. The traveling monumental outdoor sculpture exhibition is designed specifically for public gardens. The show has traveled to over 20 botanical gardens throughout North America.

Box continues to push the boundaries of the casting process. His unique style and approach, combined with an innovative vision like no other, contributes to his aspiration of place within 21st Century Art History.