David Ellsworth

b. 1944, Iowa City, Iowa

SELECTED COLLECTIONS

Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA
Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR
Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA
Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, WI
The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, HI
Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
The Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, MI
Figgi Museum of Art, Davenport, IA
Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA
Longhouse Reserve, East Hampton, NY
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
The Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN
Mint Museum of Craft + Design, Charlotte, NC
Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL
Museum of Arts & Design, New York, NY
Museum of Fine Arts, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Museum of Fine Arts, Honolulu, HI
Philadelphia Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA
Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC
Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY
Sheldon Memorial Art Museum, Lincoln, NE
The White House Collection of American Crafts, Washington, DC
University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT
WoodTurning Center, Philadelphia, PA
World Forestry Center Museum, Portland, OR

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2008       Turned & Sculptured Wood, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
                Turned Wood – Small Treasures, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
                Collectors of Wood Art Forum, Scottsdale, AZ
2004-08 Sculpture Objects & Functional Art Exposition, New York, NY
2007        Shy Boy, She Devil, and Isis: The Art of Conceptual Craft, Selections From the Wornick
                                Collection, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
2004-07   Sculpture Objects & Functional Art Exposition, Chicago, IL
2006       Solo Exhibition, Woods Gallery, Sun Valley, ID
                Turning Pont, Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, AZ
                International Woodturners, Coral Springs Museum of Art, Coral Springs, FL
                Tracing The Line, Craft Council of Ireland, Castle Yard, Kilkenny, Ireland
                Turning 20- Still Evolving, Kentucky Museum of Art, Louisville, KY
                Contemporary American Woodturning, Rochester Art Center, Rochester, MN
2004-06   Nature Transformed, Wood Art from the Bohlen Collection, University of Michigan
                                Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI
2001-06   Turned Wood – Small Treasures, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2005        Collectors of Wood Art Forum, Philadelphia, PA
                Solo Exhibition, James A. Michener Museum, New Hope, PA
                The Contemporary Eye, James A. Michener Art Museum, New Hope, PA
                The Bohlen Collection, Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL
                Artist’s Reflections, Woodturning Center, Philadelphia, PA
2004        Solo Exhibition, Patina Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
                Celebrating Nature: Craft Traditions/ Contemporary Expressions, Craft & Folk Art
                                Museum, Los Angeles, CA
2003       Into the Woods, Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA
                A Tribute to Rude Osolnik: An Exhibition of Contemporary Turned Wood, Kentucky
                                Museum of Arts + Design, Louisville, KY
2001-03   Turned & Sculptured Wood, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2002        Collectors' Choice, Collectors of Wood Art Forum, SOFA, Chicago, IL
2001-02   Wood Turning in North America Since 1930,
                                The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN
                                Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC
                                Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT
2001        Collectors' Choice, Collectors of Wood Art Forum, Minneapolis, MN
                Against the Grain: Turned and Sculpted Wood, McAllen International Museum,
                                McAllen, TX
                Woodturning in North America Since 1930, Minnesota Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN
2000        Turning Wood Into Art: The Jane and Arthur Mason Collection, Mint Museum of
                                Craft + Design, Charlotte, NC
                Solo Exhibition, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1999       The Art of Turned Wood: Selections from the Lipton Collection, World Forestry Center,
                                Portland, OR
                Pathways, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH
                Solo Exhibition, Materia Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
                Contemporary Works from the Saxe Collection, Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco,
                                San Francisco, CA
1998-99   Turn, Turning, Turned: Contemporary Wood Objects, Heritage Museum of Layton, UT
                                and Brigham City Museum, Brigham City, UT
1997-98   Expressions In Wood: Masterworks from the Wornick Collection,
                                American Craft Museum, New York, NY
                                McAllen International Museum, McAllen, TX
                                Oakland Museum of Calif., Oakland, CA
                Turned Wood Now: Redefining the Lathe-Turned Object IV, Arizona State University,
                                Tempe, AZ
1997        Aha Hana Lima, The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, HI
                Solo Exhibition, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
                Moving Beyond Tradition: A Turned Wood Invitational, Arkansas Art Center,
                                Little Rock, AR
                Hawaii Craftsmen, Bishhop Museum of Fine Arts, Honolulu, HI
                Redefining the Lathe-Turned Object, Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, AZ
                From Ancient Craft to Fine Art, Tifton Museum of Art & Heritage, Tifton, GA
                Renwick at 25, Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Museum of Art, Washington, DC
                Expressions In Wood: Masterworks from the Wornick Collection, Oakland Museum of
                                California, Oakland, CA
                Solo Exhibition, Mendelson Gallery, Washington, CT
1996       Nature Turning Into Art: The Ruth and David Waterbury Collection of Turned Wood
                                Bowls, The Carleton Art Gallery, Carleton College, Northfield, MN
                Redefining the Lathe-Turned Object, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
                Celebrating American Craft, Kunstindustrie Museum of Art, Copenhagen, Denmark
1995       The White House Craft Collection, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
                Redefining the Lathe-Turned Object, Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, AZ
                Solo Exhibition, Okun Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1994       Solo Exhibition, Hand & Spirit Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
1993       Redefining the Lathe-Turned Object, Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, AZ
                Jacobson Collection, Nueberger Museum of Art, SUNY, Purchase, NY
                Past & Present: Ongoing Traditions in American Craft Art, Mitchell Museum,
                                Mt. Vernon, IL
                Permanent Collection, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
                Tea Service, American Craft Museum, New York, NY
                New Acquisitions, American Craft Museum, New York, NY
1992       The Forest Refined, Trenton City Museum of Art, Trenton, NJ
                Solo Exhibition, Mendelson Gallery, Washington, CT
1991       Challenge IV, Port of History Museum, Philadelphia, PA
                In Our Circle, James A. Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, PA
                New Masters Workshop, Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, WV
                Solo Exhibition, Bellas Artes Gallery, New York, NY

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

2004       Nature Transformed, Wood Art from The Bohlen Collection, Hudson Hills Press
                Contemporary Turned Wood: New Perspectives in a Rich Tradition,
                              Leier, Peters, Wallace

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

My first exposure to woodturning began in 1958, when I was fourteen. By the time I received my Master's degree in sculpture in 1973, I had worked in many media including metal, fiber and polyester. But it was my experience working in clay that led me to consider the intimate power of the vessel form. My love for the material of wood returned and by the mid-1975, I had developed a series of tools that allowed me to produce thin-walled hollow forms through a process I called 'blind turning'.

As both a maker and a teacher, I am constantly reminded of the importance of remaining a student of one's own work. This philosophy has allowed me to remain receptive to many influences that surround me, including objects from other cultures, the infinite variety of the materials I use, and my own personal and spiritual connection to the vessel form. The evolution of my work has therefore taken many directions, each stage of which I see as the foundation for a body of work that is yet to be realized.

My intent as an artist is to translate thought into form and to create singular statements that evolve through the integration of the material of wood with the process of turning. I prefer to work in series where I can explore ideas, challenge concepts and expand the dimension of my work into a broad visual language. I consider the skill of my craft to be the foundation from which my artwork has evolved, and that the identity of each object is a glimmer of the collective body of my life's work.

THE WORK

My intent is to compose a moving visual landscape by accenting specific areas of these surfaces either with oil or bleaching, or both. As well, the off-the-tool surfaces have been left unsanded to reflect the power of the spalted material.

The final "finish" is a transparent lacquer. They can either be dusted or vacuumed with a brush attachment.