Kurt Klein
United States
Shortly after completing his studies in Graphic and Commercial art, Kurt Klein started Signature Studio. The focus of Signature Studio was designing and executing artwork for businesses and institutions that included large scale murals, logo designs, renderings and illustrations, as well as other types of creative projects.
As time passed, Kurt realized that creating artwork at the direction of others was not his true calling. When an opportunity arose through a call for the commissioning of a fine artist to create a monumental sculpture, he was encouraged to make a submission. After some gentle coercing, a submission was made and he was awarded the commission. Kurt's artistic focus changed from that time forward to a passion for creating fine art sculpture.
As a sculptor, Klein considers himself mostly self taught, though the concepts and skills learned as a commercial artist are still an integral part of the artistic process. Generally speaking, his images are centered on the human figure and are often visual metaphors that reflect a chosen human experience or a theme that distills a spiritual significance as their inspiration. Visual metaphors guide the viewer to understand that the literal image of the work can also serve as a symbol or commentary for something more. Symbols of that deeper meaning are often placed within the artwork as supporting visual elements for those that care to dig deeper into the meaning of the work.
The materials used to create the sculptures lend themselves to flexibility and fidelity in reproduction, as well as a unique finished product. The artist enjoys finding ways to innovate the use of common but unconventional materials in the production of the final pieces.
The resulting sculptures are very labor intensive, often requiring hundreds of hours to arrive at a completed sculpture. No part of the process is contracted out to others. Every aspect from concept to clay model, through to molding, casting, finishing, along with custom base design and creation, is executed completely by the artist's hands.
* This statement has been provided directly by the artist in association to their 14th International ARC Salon entries. This content has not been edited for typos or grammatical errors and has not been vetted for accuracy.
