KYLE BAUER

About the Artist

Kyle Bauer, a 2014 Sondheim Artscape Prize finalist, creates mixed media sculptures that reference maritime navigation while conveying balance, tension and control. Bauer’s work has been featured in more than two dozen regional, national and international exhibitions, including shows at Arlington Art Center (Arlington, VA, 2014), Crosstown Art Center (Memphis, TN, 2014), Lawrence Art Center (Lawrence, KS, 2014), School 33 Art Center (Baltimore, MD, 2014), The Shed (Galway, Ireland, 2013), Pine Box Art Center (Baltimore, MD 2013), Maryland Art Place (Baltimore, MD 2013), Masur Museum of Art (Monroe, LA 2011) and The Clay Studio (Philadelphia, PA, 2014, 2012, 2011, 2010). He was a 2013 participant in Maryland Art Place’s 30 Under Thirty artist lecture series and in 2014 was selected for a long-term sight specific collaboration at School 33 Art Center in Baltimore, a project funded by the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. He currently works at the Baltimore Museum of Art as the Conservation Technician of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs and maintains a studio in Greektown. Bauer received his Masters in Fine Art from Louisiana State University in 2011.

Artist's Statement

My current body of work combines metaphorical references to navigation with mixed media sculptural forms. Each sculpture is conceived with an adherence to the formalist perspective of objects, and my intention is to convey balance, tension, and control. The individual works are oriented to aid viewer as they navigate the gallery space. My visual library, language, and material knowledge come from my history with restoration and preservation, particularly of houses and furniture. By using singular objects and their imagery in repetition, I break down objects into what I understand to be their purest representational forms. I compose my sculptures by arranging, stacking, and piling—trusting the instincts of building. In many cases, I let the objects dictate their own forms. I derive pleasure from this act of construction and enjoy how this process provides multiple layers of meaning through the use of color, surface, pattern, and form.