Ironwain

Artist Statement

I am an artist interested in the tradition of making images in cast metal. This tradition combines magic, ritual, practice, performance, and art. My work in art derives its inspiration from such diverse interests as canoeing and fishing in the wilderness, Native American culture, Asian culture, and the history of spiritual practice

While I have continued to explore the process of casting metals with recyclable materials using very old methodologies, the new work expands the narrative of my wilderness water adventures by including wood, stone, fish skin, and high carbon steel bloom. My creative process mirrors the physical and visual aspect of water: to move in the water by canoe in a forward direction, one must push backward against the water; in the still surface of water one sees the reciprocal image of world. Just as the mold is to the casting, so is the relationship of the reflected image on the water's surface to the three-dimensional world of material.

Working with bronze cast in clay molds using charcoal as a fuel, wood and stone found on canoe trips into the wilderness, fish skin from fish I have caught, and steel made from Minnesota magnetite iron ore, the recent work comments on the necessity of wilderness waters and honors the people who cared/care for water. The creative work is a narrative of wilderness experiences and seeks to carry on the tradition of transformation of space into form and form into space.

Biography

Wayne E. Potratz studied at Macalester College, graduating in 1964 with a BS degree in Art and Education. He received his MA in Sculpture from the University of California, Berkeley in 1966 and taught art at the high school and community college level until 1969 when he accepted a position at the University of Minnesota. He was Chair of the Art department from 1985- 1998 and was designated a Scholar of the College in 2008, the first artist to be awarded this distinction. Potratz's creative work in cast metals is represented in 35 public/ corporate collections and 330 private collections. Since 1964 his work has been exhibited in more than 30 one-person and two-person exhibitions and more than 385 group exhibitions locally, regionally, and internationally. He was awarded the International Sculpture Center's Outstanding Educator Award in 2013. Now Professor Emeritus from the University of Minnesota, he maintains a studio in Minneapolis and teaches workshops at the Chicago Avenue Firte Arts Center, the Grand Marais Art Colony, and the North House Folk School; you can find further information on his website .

Exhibition History (CV)