Wayne Sutton is a member of a new generation of Metalsmiths who are seeking new directions within the aesthetic of hollowware.  Educationally he comes from a long line of prominent metalsmiths.  During his undergraduate studies at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas he was introduced to the field by nationally respected artist Robly Glover.  Wayne then went on to graduate studies under long time teacher and master craftsman Fred Fenster at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.  It was here that Wayne learned about integrity, high standards and the application and process of crafting vessels, and his work matured and developed into what it is today.

        In their unpredictability,  Wayne’s creations appear at once whimsical and childlike, as well as sophisticated and elegant.  He infuses each piece with pent-up energy-- a kind of contained animation expressing the power of the process of working with unyielding yet pliable materials such as copper, silver and wood.  This animated quality of his vessels conveys the inherent conflict between the energy trapped within the vessel and the manipulation of the skin that takes an abstracted shape dictated by the functional requirements of the piece.

        All of Wayne’s vessels have traditional components of hollowware. He strives to unify spouts and handles with the fluidity of raised and fabricated forms.  For Wayne, this combination of imagery and function offers sculptural analogies yet to be discovered.

        After graduate school Wayne went on to teach sculpture, art history and printmaking at Columbia Basin College in Washington State, then he taught beginning Metals classes at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.  He currently lives in the San Francisco Bay area where he divides his time between being a profesional artist in his metalsmithing studio and working for Apple Inc.