Jeffrey Kalstrom
Resume
Jeffrey S Kalstrom
2205 W 7th St. Duluth, MN 55806
jkalstrom@gmail
Education
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, MFA in sculpture, 1996
University of Minnesota—Minneapolis, BFA in sculpture, 1984
Employment
Assistant professor - University of Minnesota, Duluth 1997 – present
Grants and Awards
Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, Small Capital Grant 2016
Jerome/Franconia Sculpture Park Fellowship 2014
Arrowhead Regional Arts Council Career Development Grant 2010, 2006, 1999, 1997
Arrowhead Regional Arts Council Fellowship, 2001
Minnesota State Arts Board Career Opportunity Grant 1999, 1998, and 1985
Forecast Public Artworks, Research and Development Grant, 1995
Exhibitions
The Nordic Center, Duluth, MN 2020
Franconia Sculpture Park, Shafer, MN 2017 to present
"Iron Caste" Oasis Gallery, Marquette, MI 2011
Columbus Iron Exhibit, Columbus, Indiana 2010
Franconia Sculpture Park, Shafer, MN 2009
"Franconia - 12 Years of Casting" Stillwater Public Library, Stillwater, MN 2008
“Ferrous Aurora” Lizzards, Duluth, MN 2007
Chicago Sculpture Works, Chicago, Illinois 2006
"mnartists.org Ice Shanty" Medicine Lake, Plymouth, MN “Snow Birds” 2006
New Orleans Sculpture Center, New Orleans, LA 2005
“Tweed/Palermo Exchange Exhibition” Palazzo Scalfani, Palermo, Italy 2004
“Ferrendipity” Yew Tree Farm, Suffolk, England 1999
“Thunder Bay/Duluth”, Thunder Bay Art Center, ON, Canada 1999
Organizations
I am one of the organizers of Common Language, and currently serving as its
president. We are a group of artists who strive to expand the basis of art in the region
by organizing exhibitions in alternative venues, as well as in galleries and public
buildings. We sponsor the North Shore Iron Pour and exhibition, which is now in it's 21th
year.
I made this work from 2020 to today. It has been a troubled and difficult two years. We have all been torn by a global pandemic which has cost many their lives and their livelihoods, the needless killing of George Floyd and too many other innocent people sparking protest and unrest, endless fires in the West and hurricanes in the South, and a political deadlock that blocks progress towards stemming the tide of global warming.
Horrified by this suffering I gravitate towards work which tries to imagine and visualize an alternative reality, a dream world where the conflicts between people, between humans and animals and between life and death itself are resolved. I need to dream dreams of wholeness in times riven by conflict and hatred. I need to create visions of unity to keep my hopes alive. I am trying to square the circle and achieve a vision of reconciliation.
My current work operates on two levels, one being mythic figurative imagery, the other colorful optical patterns. Through the color and optical patterns I try to mirror the energy and dazzling beauty of movement in nature. Through the imagery I playfully investigate myths, legends, and fairytales. The meaning(s) embodied by the works are best described as wonderment at the beauty of the natural world and the richness of human myth-making.
The 2021 body of work is primarily inspired By “The Odyssey” with its themes of fate, luck, fidelity, and the difficult and perilous journey “home”.