Grace Knowlton
Gray Sphere, c.1991

Welded and painted copper from the NYAC SERIES

Knowlton was known for her spherical sculptures, sometimes exhibited in groupings. In the 1960s Knowlton was working in ceramics and found that she had the urge to close up the openings in the tops of the vessel forms she was producing. This led her to the concept of creating entirely closed spherical sculptural forms. She began drawing on the spheres, and eventually began producing them in other materials such as copper, plaster, sheet metal and concrete. Later she learned welding to produce structural armatures for the interiors to support the weight of these materials. Later she began cutting or breaking the spheres apart then reattaching the fragments. This process was revealed through the sutures and pockmarks on the surface of the spheres.