BILL MOLTHEN

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