WATERHOUSE & DODD, New York is pleased to invite you to the first US exhibition by the acclaimed Australian artist Michael Snape.

Taken from detailed drawings of the human figure in seemingly infinite amalgamations, Snape creates laser-cut sculptures from steel and brass. The artist balances negative space with multiple figure compositions that address the artist’s concern for shaping a raw material to its exhaustive capacity.

“Figure and Bowl” tracks the sculptural manifestations of four drawings, and expands on the way they can be employed. Also included are sculptures made from the negative shapes or ‘off-cuts’ produced during the process. His new works explore the ways in which coupled and grouped figures can be deployed for the same purpose. Snape coaxes each intricately cut steel sheet into bowl-like structures- pushing the solidity of the material to achieve a form at once vigorous and delicate. While each figure is unique, his work serves as a reminder that we each play a part in building a network, and that we, as individuals, are always connected.

Michael Snape was born in Australia in 1951. He graduated from the National Art School in Sydney and has worked for the last forty years as a sculptor, primarily in steel. He has been the subject of 24 solo exhibitions and has executed 25 public and private commissions. He is represented in major private collections in Australia and Asia and his work can be found in leading museum collections including the Art Gallery of New South Wales and The Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, Australia. This is Snape’s first show with the gallery.