Bill Molthen began seriously thinking about making sculpture when he was in his mid-forties working at a fabrication shop in Los Angeles. He had worked in Seattle in the ‘80s and in Los Angeles in the ‘90s as a blacksmith in various metal fabrication shops, and for several architecture firms in design development, detailing, and construction documentation. Prior to that he had spent several years in the Navy, worked in the Northwest woods and in construction, studied engineering, and acquired a degree in architecture in Oregon in 1982. Bill grew up overseas – Spain in the late ‘50s and Thailand in the ‘60s. All of these experiences are germane to who he is and how he perceives things.
“I am a self-taught artist with a background in architecture and blacksmithing, and I have a lifelong interest in drawing as a means to understanding. My sculptural interests lie in the expression of form, scale and motion – in different materials, primarily steel. My first studies were made by cutting patterns into steel plate and manipulating these flat patterns into three-dimensional forms according to a predetermined set of rules.
Since then I have devised other strategies to generate form and have also incorporated structural shapes into my work in order to challenge notions of function, scale and reference. As my work evolves, I find myself attempting to address form, space, scale and energy in a coherent but abstract manner using geometry as a way to begin fresh without holding onto ideas already exhausted. I believe the highest aesthetic can be achieved with the most economic statement.”
Bill currently lives and works in Austin, Texas, with his wife Susan and their two cats, Frixie Pie and Ponkie Girl.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2013 - Steel Sketches
Cinnabar Gallery
San Antonio, Texas
2012 - Path and Pattern
Angelo State University
San Angelo, Texas
1996 - Steel Sculpture
Thomas Babeor & Co.
La Jolla, California
1985 - Steel
AIA Gallery
Seattle, Washington
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2014 - TSG Lawndale Center exhibition
Lawndale Center
Houston, Texas
2014 - TSG All Member’s Exhibition
Dougherty Art Center
Austin, Texas
2013 - in-Depth
Art Car Museum
Houston, Texas
in participation with the Texas Biennial
2013 - PROCESS:
drawings, maquettes & proposals
Austin Community College
Austin, Texas
in participation with the Texas Biennial
2013 - Under the Rotunda
The Texas State Capitol
Austin, Texas
2013 - 47th Annual National
Drawing & Small Sculpture Show
- Honorable Mention
Del Mar College
Corpus Christi, Texas
2010 - CLOSED MONDAYS:
art work by art museum workers
grayDUCK gallery
Austin, Texas
2002 - The Sculptors
Gallery 835
Los Angeles, California
1999 - Small Works
Art Association Gallery
Los Angeles, California
1998 - Brewery Art Walk
The Brewery
Los Angeles, California
1996 - 31st Annual Open Exhibition
The Fine Arts Institute of the
San Bernardino County Museum
1985 - Metal at Timberline
Mountain High No. V
Timberline Lodge
Mt. Hood, Oregon
1984 - Northwest Oasis Exhibit
Seattle Design Center
Seattle, Washington
PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION
1986 - Seattle Arts Commission
and Art in Public Places
Design and construction of
Bumbershoot Festival
main information booth
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Deanna Anderson and Mike Dinning
Lafayette, California
Denny Bleakly
Claremont, California
Nancy Brazzil
Austin, Texas
Robert Carter
Austin, Texas
Annie Chu and Rick Gooding
Los Angeles, California
Carol Cunning and Jack Sanders
Los Angeles, California
Philip Dapeer
Los Angeles, California
John Dearman
Silver Lake, California
Ivy Ford
Austin, Texas
Nancy Ford
Dilley, Texas
Zondra Ford
Round Rock, Texas
Kim Heilbrun and Bill Powers
Austin, Texas
Lenore Kasdorf
North Hollywood, California
Debbie Keith
New York, New York
Paul Kennerson
La Jolla, California
Nozomi Kishimoto and Don Wood
Tokyo, Japan
Mary Kottke
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Janice Kennedy and Rick Koppes
Los Angeles, California
Susan Lamborghini
Austin, Texas
Kathleen and Lou Mabley
Austin, Texas
Randi Marell
Los Angeles, California
Vicki Meredith
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Michael Miller
Los Angeles, California
Joleen and Kevin O'Brien
Pasadena, California
Amy Payne
Houston, Texas
Karen and Paco Peña
London, England
Mason Phelps
La Jolla, California
Carissa and Pepe Romero
Del Mar, California
Jeannette Shiflet
Austin, Texas
Scott Tennant
Pasadena, California
Marisol and Luis Vivó
Madrid, Spain