Michael Walsh aka Prism discovered his youthful passions on the gritty streets of Pittsburgh, having fun with skateboarding, music, and graffiti as gateways into his inventive practices. Seeking to discover place and function in an setting the place city blight set in after the metal mills had been shuttered he turned to portray partitions and freight trains even utilizing deserted metal mill surfaces as a canvas. This left an imprint on him, influencing his sense of place and igniting his ardour for industrial design and fabrication. Having developed a powerful blue collar work ethos and a fearless strategy to exploring the brand new, he delved into the labor-intensive world of metallic fabrication as a way to discover a brand new rising style of sculpture artwork knowledgeable by graffiti lettering.
It was not lengthy earlier than he would develop his personal language and course of’ to discover the potential of the medium by means of welding, iron casting, and different methodologies which he needed to train himself and realized amongst different native artists.
Refusing to be confined by conventional genres and supplies, Walsh got down to discover artwork inside the context of historical past and future improvements like 3D printing and Digital Actuality, reimagining potentialities that had by no means been seen earlier than. By fusing the iconography of graffiti, and influences from previous artists, he creates artwork reflective of his time. His new works display the potential of interdisciplinary crossovers from all his pursuits—artwork, structure, music, fabrication, and know-how. By working concurrently by means of analog and digital processes, he creates items that vary from organically amorphous kinds, the place fluidity abandons construction, and are meticulously refined by means of digital and digital strategies. These natural kinds, conjured from VR and musical riffs on his guitar, produce works that awkwardly and unexpectedly writhe with rigidity and launch into open house. These items, labored in digital house, additional refined in CAD, and finalized within the fabrication store, exemplify the mixing of conventional metallic sculpture strategies with trendy applied sciences.
The newer exploratory works assembled from 3d prints showcase his curiosity not simply within the know-how however in its potential to turn out to be bonafide artistic endeavors, regardless of the lowbrow nature of plastic filaments.These assembled wall reliefs reference the acquainted and unfamiliar components of commercial design, graffiti and tech based mostly artwork he’s serious about.In addition they permit him to discover floor textures and infill designs that would not be achieved by typical strategies, and in contrast to the unstable nature of molten metallic Walsh now has extra management over kind, and texture to specification due to the calibration afforded by this new know-how.
General, Walsh’s dedication to exploring the potential of latest work is obvious. He ventures past typical art-making, permitting the method to steer him into unexplored territory. Having collaborated with him through the years as fellow sculptors, it has been a shared ardour not solely to provide artwork by means of these methodologies but additionally to advocate for his or her total potential. By way of this exhibition, Walsh exhibits us a means ahead that displays his fearless adaptability with rising instruments which can be reshaping how we make and think about new artwork for the longer term. —Carlos Mare, 2024
Walsh’s new solo present, Evolution, is on view at Mirus Gallery in San Francisco by means of September 4, 2024