Ian Trask is a scientist-turned-artist. His sculptures transform materials of waste and commercial byproducts into refined aesthetic objects through an alchemistic procedure of reinterpreting a material’s value and usefulness.
In many of Trask’s sculptures, the viewer will find a mischievous invitation. Texture and tangibility are essential to the experience of these objects, and by provoking the impulse to explore, each piece rouses in the beholder the same spirit of curiosity, experimentation and play that occasioned their creation.
Ian received his degree in biological science from Bowdoin College in 2005. Following graduation he worked several years as a technician in various research labs and in 2007 Ian decided he wanted to leave the world of science to pursue a career in the fine arts. Leaving his job in the laboratory, Ian worked as a hospital groundskeeper cleaning up trash daily, an experience that proved to be formative in his artistic development. Ian saw the artistic potential in the waste he was confronted with everyday and quickly began working with discarded manufactured goods as the main platform for his pieces.
