ERIC TUCKER

Statement & Resume

Wall Sculptures

Hanging Sculptures

ARTIST STATEMENT:
My work investigates the viewer’s relationship to the sculptural object on both physical and conceptual levels. The objects ask one to explore their sculptural complexity by looking from multiple vantage points, revealing distinct elements from different perspectives. I use forms and materials associated with Modernism to call attention to the boundaries between traditional media. By melding elements from painting, drawing and sculpture, I seek to reveal the ambiguities that appear upon the examination of those divisions. The objects are sculpture by the most reductive definition, and are made with the intention of expanding our understanding of drawing and painting, while confounding concepts medium specificity. Our historical moment can be characterized as one in which everything is open to discussion and interpretation. My work, then, is about looking and what we notice, and creating an open discourse in the place of orthodox paradigms.

This body of work represents my continued investigation into the similarities between geometric and organic forms.  This notion has been the driving force behind my work for many years.  To me, it represents a commonality between things usually perceived as opposites.  However, the similarities seem to outweigh the differences, and I find richness in exploring the subtleties of their resemblance.  Crystalline structures, the movement of water and seasonal cycles are patterns from the organic world that embody this principle on scales from the miniscule to the celestial.  Whether the patterns are visual, tactile or temporal, approximate or precise, they share this quality of the geometric and organic overlapping or mirroring one another. 

I live in the industrial landscape of the Lake Michigan shore.  This place, its richly textured, weathered steel structures against an expansive backdrop of water, has profoundly influenced my work.  Again, it is a melding of the geometric and organic, but this instance is different.  To me, it speaks of the enduring and ephemeral.  The waves will persist long after the structures deteriorate.  I hope my work will articulate this balance between fleeting and the immutable.

Undergraduate Research Grant, Undergraduate Research Fund, Indiana University Northwest
Purchase Award, Indiana University Northwest

ZgSummer Group Show, Zg Gallery, Chicago, IL
Hybrid's Paradise: group show, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL
Work Local: Art Meets Industry, Lubeznik Center for the Arts, Michigan City, IN
Pedagogy, Union Street Gallery, Chicago Heights, IL
Zg Winter Group Show, Zg Gallery, Chicago, IL

Zg Summer Show,  Zg Gallery, Chicago, IL
Alumni Exhibition,  Marshall J. Gardner Center for the Arts, Gary, IN
Faculty Exhibition, Lee E. Dulgar Gallery, South Holland, IL

Mirth, Delight, Awe, curated by Dorman + Torluemk, Co-Prosperity Sphere, Chicago, IL
Zg 10th Anniversary, group show, Zg Gallery, Chicago, IL
12x12 Alumni Exhibition, Indiana University Northwest, Gary, IN
Faculty Exhibition, South Suburban College, South Holland, IL
Blank Page, 22, Berwyn, IL

"Sculpture Today:New Forces, New Forms,"F.Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MI
"Colorplates" solo exhibition, Indiana University East, Richmond, IN

“South of No North” solo exhibition, IN University Northwest Gallery of Contemporary Art, Gary, IN 
“Sculpture Invasion” Koehnline Museum of Art, Des Plaines, IL
“No Such Thing as Nothing” solo exhibition, Substation 9, Hammond, IN

“66th Salon Show”, Bachman Gallery, Munster, IN
Solo Exhibition, Depot Museum and Art Gallery, Beverly Shores, IN                        
“Garden Sculpture Installation” Lubeznik Center for the Arts, Michigan City, IN ( w/ Derek Walter)
“Review/Preview” Depot Museum and Art Gallery, Beverly Shores, IN                        
“Clusterf#@k” Zg Gallery, Chicago, IL

"Infrastructure," Zg Gallery, Chicago, IL
"Colorplates," solo exhibition, New Harmony Center for Contemporary Art, New Harmony, IN
"Homecoming Exhibition," Uncle Freddy's Gallery, Hammond, IN
"A View from the Passenger's Side Window: Midwest Landscapes," Indiana University Northwest Gallery for  Contemporary Art, Gary, IN
"Momentary Silence," Uncle Freddy's Gallery, Highland, IN

"Bright," I-Space, Chicago, IL
"64th Salon Show," Bachman Gallery, Munster, IN
"Group Show, Zg Gallery, Chicago, IL

"Summer Show," Zg Gallery, Chicago, IL
"Art Chicago," Butler Field, Chicago, IL

Review, Alan Artner, Chicago Tribune, Mar.12, 2004
Modest Minimalism: Puzzle Pieces, Michael Workman, Newcity, Feb. 26, 2004