Statement
I make complex, hypothetical systems and assemblies, drawing from the monuments and sculptural forms of the past, and the physical infrastructure and built environment of our present. I work across digital and manual processes, whether fabricating and modeling by hand, capturing 3D scans myself, or pulling from the dizzying virtual ‘cast hall’ of 3D scans available online.
These copies and artifacts become components of larger improvised structures, akin to exploded views of our histories and our built environment. Each element is placed deliberately but precariously as these makeshift systems cycle, move, leak and teeter on the edge of failure.
Together, the works reflect on the inadequacies of our existing narratives, ideologies and infrastructure in a moment of accelerating change and rupture.
Studio portrait by Van Anglen Photography.
Biography
Lewis Colburn holds a BA in studio art and Russian language from St. Olaf College, and a MFA in sculpture from Syracuse University. Colburn has participated in numerous artist-in-residence programs including Franconia Sculpture Park, SculptureSpace, and RAIR in Philadelphia.
Colburn’s work has been shown internationally and throughout the United States, at venues including the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, the Torrance Art Museum in Los Angeles, Locust Projects in Miami, and the Taoyuan Museum of Fine Arts in Taiwan.
His works have been featured in Sculpture magazine, as well as the Philadelphia Inquirer. He teaches sculpture and 3D design at Drexel University, where he is an associate professor.
At left: Prototype for A Fountain for A Dark Future.