Josh Brooke Cote 102 N. Water St., Louisiana Missouri, 63353 USA joshcotesculpture@gmail.com
Son of a watercolorist, I grew up surrounded by art, artists, and immense creativity. I spent my youth painting with my father and traveling with my family to art fairs on the east coast. Later, after studying painting and drawing at The University of Michigan School of Art, I became a self-taught sculptor. I soon became interested in Alexander Calder and wire sculpture as it bridges both linear drawing and sculpture, the two and three dimensions.
I create sculptures utilizing hand-modeled resin, cold-worked wire, found objects, glass, welded steel and negative space. Each sculpture is unique. Resin is hand-modeled and painted, then integrated with found objects, glass and recycled wire. With only needle-nosed pliers, the wire is cold-worked, painstakingly hand-manipulated, wrapped and woven to itself. All copper and aluminum wire is recycled. Natural patinas are obtained on the finished sculptures with acid.
My sculpture attempts to explore the boundaries and relationships between man, woman and nature, centered on our relationship to the environment. Fusing elements of folk art, surrealism and realism, ideas arise from dreams, observation and nature. I often work with themes of transformation, nurturing and regeneration. My creative energy is about growth and perceiving this energy with intuition. The challenge, the art, is attempting to translate this mystery through the process of my sculpture.
My work resides in private and corporate collections worldwide.