John Van Alstine’s sculptures are centered on the union of natural materials, such as stone, with human-made materials, such as steel. As he describes it, “found objects with their individual histories and associations are plucked from one context and combined with others, creating new things.” In these assemblages, stone is left in its natural state, with little to no carving, imparting a timeless quality. Metal, as used in Van Alstine’s sculptures, tends to convey an industrial connotation while physically linking the stones and other elements together. Layers of association, symbolism, and narrative are recognized by the artist as lending the work an ability to be interpreted in a variety of ways. According to the artist, the sculpture Stone Pile was influenced by the Western landscape in which he was living at the time of its creation. An abundance of sedimentary stone formed millions of years of layering was prevalent in the area. As Van Alstine has stated, his work “incorporated stacked Colorado flagstone to echo and reiterate the nature of the material and how it came to existence.” Van Alstine also relates the sculpture to the human impulse to stack for storing, moving, counting, and building. The sleek, curved lines of the bronze portion of Juggler I are in elegant harmony with the overall shape of the boulder. The cast metal elements-a sinuous curve, geometric shapes, and an anvil-cantilever gracefully upward and outward from the dense, weighty granite in a seemingly effortless feat of balance. Van Alstine has stated that the anvil, a metal-working tool, is symbolic of the “forging” together of the conceptual and the physical that make up his sculptures, and this image is frequently incorporated into his works. Van Alstine grew up in the southern Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. He attended St. Lawrence University and then Kent State University where he earned his BFA. After earning his MFA from Cornell University in 1976, he joined the faculty at the University of Wyoming, Laramie, and later at the University of Maryland, College park, teaching drawing and sculpture. In 1986, he moved to NYC area to pursue studio work full time. He now lives and works in a restored historic structure in the Adirondacks. Van Alstine has had one-person exhibitions at college art galleries and museums such as DeCordova Museum in Massachusetts; Jersey City Museum and Morris Museum in New Jersey; Sonsbeek International Art Center in the Netherlands. His sculptures, vibrant pastels, and photographs have been included in numerous group exhibitions including Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Chicago’s Pier Walk Annuals, and Hakone Open-Air Museum in Japan. Van Alstine’s work can also be seen in the outdoor extension of his studio, “The Adirondack Sacandaga River Sculpture Park.” The park was designed by the artist, and features an ongoing, changing exhibition of his sculpture in addition to musical concerts and other public events funded by the NY State Council on the Arts outreach program. Other works on view by John Van Alstine in the sculpture park: Juggler I, 1993
granite, bronze
98" x 80" x 32"
Courtesy of the Artist | | 
Stonepile, 1980
stone, steel
57" x 76" x 76"
Courtesy of The Sculpture Foundation, Inc.
Photo: David Steele |
