Rick Graser
Spirit World Sculptures
Berkeley Springs, WV
Rick Graser was born and raised in Nebraska -- a state rich in Native American culture and art. His interest and fascination with Indian arts and crafts began at an early age when he and his family traveled throughout the state attending Pow Wows and other events sponsored by the various Great Plains tribes. As a student (beginning in elementary school and continuing through college) he consistently worked to polish his art skills. Carving and Sculpting became his favorite form of expression and as a teenager some of his early works (stone Tikis) were featured on a local TV art program. When time permitted he continued to dabble in art throughout his adult years, producing mostly gifts (walking sticks & jewelry) for family and friends.
Following a 10 year period of extensive travel to the Southwest, where he became keenly interested in Hopi and Zuni art, Rick developed his current project. “It’s an environmentally-friendly art form in which I recycle much of the circuitry or ‘guts’ of computers, monitors and many other electrical components slated for the high tech graveyard. I ‘harvest’ the colorful and useful chips, resistors, diodes, etc. and give them new life as whimsical, interesting, and unique figures patterned after Hopi Kachinas and Zuni animal fetishes. As far as I know, I am the only artist in the world presently producing kachinas and fetishes working with this media,” states Graser.
Rick Graser’s work is currently on display at THE ICEHOUSE in Berkeley Springs, WV, at BANNING + LOW GALLERY in Kensington, MD, at La MESA GALLERY on Canyon Road in Santa Fe, NM, and at Lilly Vigil Collections in Nevada City, CA
Ice House Artists' Co-op * Independence and Mercer Sts. * Berkeley Springs, WV * 304-258-2300