Eric Hultquist ~ Steel Art LampsArtist
ABOUT THE ARTIST
“My family left Alcoa, Tennessee, and moved to Arizona just as I started high school. I began working in ceramics at that time, and I continued this throughout college. I loved the “magic” of the potter’s wheel; at the slightest touch, the clay seemed to shape itself into whatever form I imagined. At twenty-two, I moved to Los Angeles and worked briefly as an artist at an animation studio in Santa Monica before moving to the San Joaquin Valley, where I graduated from Fresno Pacific University. I returned to Arizona in 1995 after completing a Master’s Degree in Washington D.C., and, for a short time, taught computer art and animation at Cad Institute in Tempe. Following that, I taught classes in World Religions and Critical Reading at Mesa Community College for sixteen years.
Shortly after returning to Arizona, I became fascinated with Functional Art. I designed some occasional tables and joined The Furniture Society. Then, I began taking classes in Neon Sculpture and Structural Steel at ASU under Professor James White. Jim always said: “No one starts out to be a sculptor. They try everything else and one day, they kind of fall into it,” and that’s just what happened. At the same time, I began taking classes in Structural Metal Sculpture. Shortly after I began classes, Jim picked up an acetylene torch, heated a steel rod, and bent it like putty. “Steel is just like clay,” he said, “all you have to do is heat it up a little.” My jaw fell. I was hooked! I loved working in ceramics, but it had never dawned on me that steel could be turned into putty with a little heat. At that moment, steel became my favorite medium. Though I took Neon Sculpture time after time over the years, nothing ever grabbed me like steel. At some point during this time, I built a lamp out of steel. Then I built another and another. Although my work has similar stylistic elements, each lamp is different. So, I kept building lamps – a fusion of light and shades!”