Captain Marble: An Interview with Sculptor Sebastian Martorana with Photo Essay by Justin Tsucalas, BmoreArt

Jun 18, 2015

BmoreArt
June 18, 2015
By Cara Ober

It’s rare to find a contemporary sculptor skilled in the ancient craft of carving marble. It’s even more rare to find one in Baltimore. This is one of the reasons that Sebastian Martorana’s marble towels, which appear pliable enough to pass for the real thing, hang on the walls of the Walters Art Gallery in Rinehart’s Studio: Rough Stone to Living Marble. Despite living centuries apart, both sculptors followed similar paths in learning their craft and the exhibit is an opportunity to appreciate their similarities and differences, and to understand Rinehart’s legacy in Baltimore.

Although he is now based in Baltimore, Sebastian Martorana grew up in Manassas, VA and received his BFA in illustration from Syracuse University. He also studied sculpture in college and included a semester in Italy. After graduation, he became a full-time apprentice in a stone shop outside of Washington, D.C. before coming to Baltimore to earn his MFA at the MICA’s Rinehart School of Sculpture, founded by the estate of William Henry Rinehart . . .

Please follow this link to read the full article at BmoreArt.

 

‘40 Under 40: Craft Futures’ Salutes Young Artists

Aug 1, 2012

The New York Times
August 1, 2012
By Julie Lasky

In 1972, the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum was created as a home for arts, crafts and design. Four decades later, the gallery is celebrating the evolution and happy confusion of those disciplines in a show of the work of 40 artists born in the last 40 years.

Organized by Nicholas Bell, “40 Under 40: Craft Futures” focuses on themes like sustainability, sampling and the spirit-nurturing qualities of handwork.

Objects on display include Sebastian Martorana’s “Impressions” (2008), top left, a marble pillow permanently imprinted with the shape of the artist’s deceased father-in-law’s head, and Christy Oates’s “Crane Chair” (2009), bottom left, a functional seat that folds flat and hangs decoratively on the wall when not in use.

Rather than obsess over labels, the artists’ attitude is “I just do what I do,” Mr. Bell said. “It’s refreshing to see people abandoning language that we’ve been using to express ourselves over the decades.”

The show is on view through Feb. 3; information: (202) 633-7970 or americanart.si.edu/renwick.

Please follow this link to view the article on The New York Times.