Off Balance

By Jeff Whyman

Delray Beach, Florida

Created in 1993

Material: Steel

NFS

Jeff Whyman is a St. Louis born Florida artist who works in steel, inspired in part by childhood memories of fascination with the const of the St Louis Arch.  A favorite subject matter is the human figure, a consequence, he says, of “my desire to recreate human emotion and depict personality.   The Whyman sculpture in Walk of Art is a steel rendering of a whimsical little fellow caught (and titled), Off Balance. His work is in public, corporate, and private collections nationwide.  

“My early memories of watching the St. Louis Arch being constructed from 1960 to 1965 had a profound impact on my subconscious desire to build sculpture.  From my teenage years to the present, I have always felt compelled to express myself 3-dimensionally, as well as in drawing and painting.  In my formative years clay was the medium of choice, offering me a fluid and spontaneous world of rhythm and form.  This later led to the use of wax which was manipulated and then cast into bronze sculpture, first, in one piece, and then later in sections that were welded together.

“This later process directed my attention to a new, almost limitless material…steel.

“Yes, steel was the magic for me that freed my need to grow and expand into space.  Using the figure as subject matter over the years is consequential to my desire to recreate human emotion and depict personality.  My evolution in form and manipulation is constantly in a state of flux.  Presently, the pieces are opening up and creating positive and negative energy in a compelling and abstract manner.  

“Still, the mood of a new persona is the center of what I’m searching for, then taking the mood and extending or exaggerating it to a place where my own experience has not been.”

Not for sale - a gift from Ann and Harry Santen of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Crooked Lake, Michigan.

Please visit Jeff’s website at www.jeffwhyman.com.