John Rais
ABOUT THE ARTIST
John Rais has been engaged in the field of metalsmithing and applied design all of his adult life. He has BFA in Sculpture from Massachusetts College of Art and in 1998, received an MFA in Metalsmithing from Cranbrook Academy of Art, in Bloomfield Hills Michigan. From there, he was Department Head of Blacksmithing at Peters Valley Craft Education Center in Layton, New Jersey. John has operated his own studio business since 1998, where he designs and creates one of a kind furniture, sculpture and architectural metal art. John’s work is shown, commissioned and collected internationally. He has had solo shows at many places including Purchase College, The National Ornamental Metals Museum, and Massimo Bizzocchi NYC. He has designed and created works for many architecturally significant buildings including a Frank Lloyd Wright home, Louis Kahn home, Addison Mizner home, and many others. His work is regularly featured in various publications including American Craft, Departures, Ritz Carlton, and a cover article in Metalsmith Magazine, as well as numerous books. John has taught at many universities and schools such as SUNY Purchase, SUNY New Paltz, University of The Arts and Penland School of Craft. He lectures on his work and applied design throughout the U.S. He was awarded an Arts/Industry Residency at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center. In 2007 he was a Windgate Artist in Residence in applied design at SUNY Purchase. In 2012, John Installed a large series of decorative panels for the main staircase at Yale University Art Galleries. This project was a museum acquisition for their permanent collection. The following year, he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he has grown his studio to include typically several highly skilled employees. These employees move from all parts of the U.S to work for him. Most recently, John was hired to design nearly all of the metalwork for a massive renovation project for a famous Addison Mizner Home in Palm Beach Florida. He and his elite group of artists made and installed the work in 2015. In 2019 John co created and co-chair Looking Forward, Contemporary Iron Symposium at Bryn Athyn College. He is always busy with commissioned work as well as new speculative pieces that continue to be shown and collected internationally.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I am steeped in the building of language in metal that reflects the human condition and the fragility and strength of our relationships to the other, each other, and our planet. This show is an exploration into connectivity, things or phenomena that make us feel a sense of connection to ourselves and each other. It is a celebration of connectedness, and relationships in a time of separation, isolation and solitude. This latest series of animal based art came from earlier works where animals were the subject for furniture pieces. It was about the human interaction with the animal itself, and what the users ask or expect from that ritual use of furniture. This is a branching out from that inquiry. It is about the animals interacting with the manufactured. I make the objects that I wish I could find, in a world I idealize as an aspiration to our blended selves. Admittedly, the love of making prevents me from ever finding exactly what I am looking for or even knowing what it is.
