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Wyndbourne LLC |
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Artist's Studio
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Originally
from New Haven, Connecticut, Ralph Caparulo graduated from Silvermine College of Art (AD), the University of Hartford Art
School (BFA), and the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Fine Art (MFA). He has practiced his craft since the late
1960s concurrent with a teaching career, presently a member of the faculty of the Schenectady County Community College. In
addition, he is available to participate as a mentor/instructor in Skidmore’s University Without Walls program.
He studied metalsmithing at the Royal College of Art in London with noted English jeweler, Wendy Ramshaw, and takes occasional
courses to broaden his base of knowledge and skill. Caparulo built
his studio at Wyndbourne after the barn he’d hoped to use for the purpose was deemed irretrievable. The studio
houses all of of the artist’s major woodworking equipment and features a commanding view to the south through its prominent
central window. It is in this peaceful, fascinating but orderly disarray of materials and components that constructivist
sculptures (mostly), drawings, collages and paintings take shape. This structure also serves as a classroom for independent
study students and young artists interested in portfolio development. It is also host to errant hummingbirds and other winged
beings that err from their usual flyways. Using leather, found objects
or fabricated elements together with strong influence of Japanese design principles, Caparulo’s work is at once enigmatic
and orderly, primitive yet polished, timeless and often whimsical. He draws on a considerable knowledge of meso-American,
Egyptian, Norse and Japanese folklore and mythology for inspiration. These cultural sites have captivated and continue to
fascinate him and are the focus for much of his continuous study. Widely shown in juried and
invitational venues across the US and Canada, Mr. Caparulo’s art is found in permanent collections of several museums
in New Jersey (the Noyes and Bergen) and Pennsylvania (The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts) and, more locally, the Hyde
Collection in Glens Falls. He has a coveted (by sculptors) membership in the North American Sculpture Center in Golden,
Colorado, and has won numerous awards and fellowships for his creativity and accomplishments.
I bring both varied
elements and focus to my sculptures: detail orientation and fine craftsmanship, an interest in texture, balance and combinations
of unexpected materials; a life-long fascination with ancient, multi-cultural mythologies because of their rich and mysterious
origins. Each ancient society, though markedly different from one another, has a unique clarity in the sculptural
works that illustrate their folklore and mythological past. I have perpetual curiosity about what results when I take the
next step – whatever it might be. I see threads of commonality
that run through all of the earliest known western civilizations (the cairns of the Basque region, stones of Brittany, Stonehenge
and Avebury in the United Kingdom). Including interpretations of these common elements in my sculpture
will heighten the visibility of these early esoteric cultural histories.
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Presenting the mythic
references by using non-traditional materials, such as leather, stones, twigs, bones, teeth and hand-made objects allows me
to produce works that are delicate in character but that also maintain structural relationship. The sculptures might be called
visual tracings of significant moments or carved, assembled temples that reveal their own intricate depth. For the purposes
of greater enjoyment of these pieces, consider many layers of materials implying something hidden, mysterious - texts
enclosed in leather, items mummified to enhance an unknown stratum of existence, a gradually evolving pool of mystic information.
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