Wright, Carl (Sculpture)

Carl Wright's sculpture has a quiet but intense nature.  His pieces do not shout their presence, but have an authority and stillness all their own.  Their sensual lines and forms surge, separate, and then rejoin in a continuous dance of design and shape.  His work is about fluidity, sensual forms, and implied - rather than stated - motion.  Many of his sculptures appear to be caught, as in a photograph, between the movement they had just performed and the next movement they are about to begin. Carl draws his creativity from synthesizing his observations of natural forms and people. He rarely works from a clay model, preferring to develop his ideas as he carves the stone. Stone is a natural choice for his work because of the contrast of the cold hardness of the stone and the sensuality of the form.  The motion and tension is immediately picked up by the viewer.  This tension is heightened with the strong angles that interrupt the smooth undulating line of his sculptures. Carl Wright never really had a choice. He had to work in 3-D, "everything else seemed so ...flat" he said. His medium of choice is stone because of its long lasting beauty, its ability to evoke emotion and stability through the tactile feel and it’s sweeping design. Carl sculpts abstract shapes in alabaster, marble and limestone. He prefers alabaster because of the color, its workability, and because it is not a homogenous color. "Marble is great for indoors. Limestone is great anywhere". Abstract stone sculpture conveys different thoughts and emotions to different people making it a good choice to engage the maximum amount of viewers. It is also durable and low maintenance. He has been a full-time artist for over 20 years. His medium of choice is stone because of its long lasting beauty, its ability to evoke emotion and stability through the tactile feel and it’s sweeping design. Abstract stone sculpture conveys different thoughts and emotions to different people making it a good choice to engage the maximum amount of viewers. It is also durable and low maintenance. Carl has participated in three Public Art programs, received a Professional (Artist) Development Grant from the State of WV, and participated in juried museum shows. His work resides in homes in Zug, Switzerland, Washington, DC, and Orlando, FL to name a few. One sculpture is in a large pharmaceutical corporate headquarters in Durham, NC.