Objects made out of Bronze: Bronze Vessels

Jim Cotter is a metalsmith who lives and works in the Vail Valley of Colorado. Cotter is also known for his playful mindset regarding art and life. His sculptures are influenced by the surrounding environment and incorporate unusual and natural materials. His textures are unmatched and impossible to recreate.   
Jim handcrafts each piece of work, from start to finish in his Minturn, Colorado Studio. Specializing in the lost wax casting process Cotter’s designs are full of movement, fluidity and texture.  
Cotter is known as a maverick and pioneer in using alternative materials. He has held classes and workshops across the globe; Haystack Mountain Collage, Penland School of Craft and Anderson Ranch Arts Center, to name a few. His work can be found in collections like Herman Miller, the Georgia Museum of Art, The Ornamental Metals Museum and the Korean Craft Museum. 

As an inquisitive artisan, the ultimate goal is to dream of useful objects that transcend time. Bronze breathes and is constantly changing with you and your environment. Many sculptures were inspired by a title first which then influenced the works to go with them. In this instance I was inspired by the materials themselves. Man vs. Nature. Organic vs. Industrial. Taking an idea from nature, building its decomposing likeness in wax and then casting it in bronze, I am asking what's temporary to last a lifetime. 

Bronze Vessels play with the idea of something totally unfunctional yet captivating all at once. Marrying wax and wood then casting them in Bronze freezing the conversation in time and space; birthing a duality that will forever be contemplated. I have spent over Six Decades studying the memory of Wax. Wax fascinates me. I love bronze because it breathes and grows, what is seemingly unmalleable constantly changes with you and thus takes you from what you think you know to what could be, what's possible. 

Photos: Jordan Spencer