Dwight Bennett
"Since 1963 when I created my first table in eighth grade, I have worked using balance and form as my guide and focus. The subliminal female body form is the driving force behind my work. That faint but lasting sense of that form makes my work flow and come to life. That being said, inevitably it ... more"Since 1963 when I created my first table in eighth grade, I have worked using balance and form as my guide and focus. The subliminal female body form is the driving force behind my work. That faint but lasting sense of that form makes my work flow and come to life. That being said, inevitably it is the HOW of the artistic rendering, which becomes the sculpture's creative signature. That is what eventually attracts and cements the devotee's interest in the finished product. The HOW is the most powerful and grabbing force for an artist to achieve. If we as artists can get the audiences to wonder How, the rest of the Who, What, and Why will follow, keeping them looking forever.
In my work I like to think I flow in harmony with nature. As wood dries and grows old, Mother Nature's caricature slowly creeps out. I like to take this caricature and create from it. My role is to define and shape these areas and thus illuminate, if you will, Mother Nature's birthmarks. By using my Inlaid Silver technique I feel I have achieved this end. I was the first to develop this method of vein striation enhancement. The silver seems to give my work a sense of harmony and flow, and at times, a sense of electricity and life. Mother Nature creates all her Rivers and Streams, Vanes and Vessels, in everything she makes, all I do is play in them."
Dwight Bennett, a fifth generation native of Arizona was born in Phoenix and graduated from Glendale High School. He attended Arizona State University on a football and track scholarship and graduated with a degree in Art and Technology. He then went on to complete his studies after teaching for twelve years with a master's degree plus thirty. He has been a sculptor and craftsman all of his life, in the third grade he was caught carving tiny sculptures out of his crayons with his fingernails, and he was punished.
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