EA12 Artist Highlight: Adam Bodine

Adam Bodine, What You Say, 2012, Steel + Cast Iron
Image courtesy of Jennifer Price and Spruill Gallery

The transition from adolescence to adult is a curious turning point.  We either consciously or otherwise chose to edit our lives, typically with a lasting effect.  Whether fitting into or out of social norms, the decisions made in this moment give great insight onto culture, society, and individuality.  This “coming of age” is the foundation upon which I work.  By using the image of the toy in conjunction with the industrial, I explore both sides of the equation using themes of play, dreams, building, learning and teaching.  My sculptural proactive serves as a way to observe, document, and remind people of their personal change.

 Adam Bodine, Sometimes You Just Gotta Play in the Dirt, 2010, Wood

Image courtesy of Adam Bodine

In the creation of my work, an emphasis is put on craft, pride, tradition and the hand-made.  I wasn’t to document many aspects of our society using skill, craftsmanship and enduring materials to create tangible records much like the civilizations of the past.  I have developed a way of working that is symbolic of our hopes, desires, and dreams.  The images are typically a simplistic and youthful approach to sophisticated challenges and issues.  Often, I feel that I draw on the same sources of imagination, experimentation, commitment, and vigor of artists, inventors, scientists, and instigators of the past and present.  I urge people to act on their imaginations, dreams, and play-impulse.

-Adam Bodine