Weld Being With A Welder And A Work Space, Artist John Bisbee Has Just About Everything He Needs In Life
How does it feel to be on your own,
With no direction home -
Like a complete unknown -
Like a rollin’ stone …
- Bob Dylan
The man and his art are a study in dynamic equilibrium.
John Bisbee lives in an unheated warehouse and cooks rice on a two-burner hotplate so he can indulge in the luxury of making his art full time.
Born into a family of university faculty near Cambridge, Mass., he was diagnosed as dyslexic in the second grade. He ended up in Spokane by chance two years ago, makes brilliant work and is poised on the horizon of great success — elsewhere.
In his first solo exhibition at Chase Gallery in Spokane’s City Hall, the 30-year-old Bisbee has managed to engage a wide audience with his sculptures made from welded nails.
People of all backgrounds and ages stroll through the inviting maze of webbed cubes. They step over a bristly spine of brads, and peer into huge spheres and cylinders of space bound in metal.
“You can measure things right off by what the employees of City Hall think, and I’ve overheard them say this work is outstanding, and ‘This guy is going someplace!”’ said Ralph Busch, outreach coordinator for the city arts department. Also a sculptor, Busch noted that welding is an awkward medium, and he marveled at the consistency and symmetry of Bisbee’s craftsmanship.
Art professionals see Bisbee’s creations and drop names of great artists such as Brancusi, De Chirico and Escher in reference to the pieces’ form, interplay and conundrums of prickly lines.
One of the city arts commissioners, Carolyn Stephens, was on the panel that invited Bisbee to show his work in City Hall. She was impressed by the contrasts embodied in the sculptures.
“There’s a positive element to those soldered and welded lines that would then be countered by the open spaces and shapes. And as soon as you were aware of the bigness of the object, then you were drawn to the minuscule aspects of it,” said Stephens.
“It’s like the 17th century Baroque view of the world - seeing (the cosmos) through a telescope and then seeing minutiae through a microscope,” she said.
Lean and pale, his dark hair in Bart Simpson spikes, Bisbee bantered with visitors on a walkthrough in the gallery. At his feet sat a 10-inch ball made from 100 pounds of soldered nails. Behind him hung a wire mesh cumulus cloud stretching 15 feet wide.
“Repetition can be random or gathered, absolute order or absolute chaos,” he said, pointing to the small ball. “This is collapsed space, and it’s antithetical with ‘Loom’ on the wall here, which is expanded space.
“What can be simpler than nails? What intrigues me is the infinite variety within a limited context,” he said. “It’s really not important to me what they are - just that they are.
“It’s very labor-intensive, and I’m obsessed about it. I work at it eight hours a day, sometimes longer,” he said. “Everything here is a physical, tangible record of my time.”
He walked over to a shoulder-high sphere of compacted brads. “This one took six months, but ‘O’ over there was like a sneeze.”
The visitors turned as one to look at hollow “O,” crafted from arcs of 60-penny nails welded end to end. “It only took three days to make - after seven years I finally figured out that bigger nails, over a bigger area, make a larger piece with less work. I love that,” he laughed with the crowd.
Everything he owns fits into his dad’s old Army duffle bag, “except my MIG welder,” said Bisbee. Last year he lugged it to Yaddo, the famous New York haven for gifted artists and writers. He hopes to pack it soon again and head east to a fellowship residency program at the Bemis Foundation in Omaha, Neb., where he can expand his visions to full-blown outdoor sculptures. The Alfred University graduate wants to return to New York eventually, perhaps perching in Manhattan to make his art.
The young man shrugged his shoulders. “These are my only clothes I’m wearing. But anytime you can get yourself in a situation where all you do is what you’re meant to do, there can be no greater gift.”