ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Jack and Alice McLean of McHenry, Illinois, create works in bronze and copper with details directly applied to or carved into the metal. There is no casting involved, so the advantage to the collector is the possibility of owning an original without the existence of a mold or an addition of multiples.

Their current pieces are the result of a twenty-year dialogue with materials. Their focus on bronze and copper constructions has left them with a variety of self-taught techniques. Jack received a BA in Literature from National Louis University and worked as a sculptor’s apprentice for two years. He feels his most pertinent and valuable skills have been self-taught.

“Over the last ten years, glass beads and antique beads of all kinds have become a central design element. Collecting beads and incorporating them into my work has led me into an enduring experiment with color and texture.”

ABOUT THE WORK

Jack and Alice fabricate and construct their work out of flat bronze plates and copper pieces through welding, bending of the metals, surface grinding, chemical patination, mechanical attachments and embellishments of glass and antique beads. They weld through the tungsten-inert-gas arc welding process, which allows them not to have to rely on the intervention of a foundry. Their fabrication techniques ensure collectors of one- of- a- kind pieces.

AWARDS

2005 ACC Show, Best of Excellence Award
2001 Washington Craft Show, Collector’s Award
1998, American Craft Exposition-Best in Metal, Evanston, Illinois
1993, 1996, Cherry Creek Arts Festival, First Place Sculpture, Denver, Colorado

CORPORATE COLLECTIONS

AT& T, Piscataway, New Jersey
All-State Insurance, North Brook, Illinois
Abbott Laboratories, Chicago Heights, Illinois
The Bally Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Illinois

PERMANENT PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

United States Embassy, Bandar Seri Begawan
Montgomery Art Museum, Montgomery, AL
University of Chicago Design Building, Chicago, IL
University of Michigan Design Building