Wire is my World

Aaron Stokke
Sadashivan – Representation

Wire is my World

I have always been known as “the wire guy.” Well not always, just since the eighth grade. That year changed my life. Up until that time I had kept a sketchbook full of pencil drawings for my personal amusement. When it came time to sign up for class, art was at the top of my list of electives. One art class available was Art II: Clay and Sculpture with Mrs. VanAlstien, which seemed like it would be fun.
I signed up for the course and really enjoyed it. Most of the work that we did was with clay, but one project was a wire contour sculpture. We were required to use one continuous strand of wire to produce a sculpture of a classmate’s face. After the project ended I was left with a surplus of wire, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
I found out that when given no instruction, with wire I could produce whatever three dimensional creation my brain could come up with. I often had a hard time communicating on paper what my mind had come up with, both in drawings and in writing assignments. With wire, anything was possible for me.
After discovering my passion for wire, I was able to put it to good use. Christmas and birthday gifts, decorations for my room, class assignments in courses outside of art, and even community service all revolved around wire. All of these opportunities to produce wire art allowed my talent to flourish.
I have been creating wire art for nine years now. Without that initial instruction from Mrs. VanAlstien, my life would be much less complete. I was able to thank her in my senior year of high school when I presented my senior project. I communicated how I felt about myself inside by producing the largest and most time consuming wire sculpture to date, a life size statue of myself. The sculpture was made entirely out of sixteen gauge steel wire and half of the body was only a skeleton. This piece got me recognition outside of my own family, friends and school. It is on display on the bottom floor of the Lake Washington School District office in Redmond Town Center for the world to see.
I have been greatly impacted in how I communicate with wire by the constant need to produce gifts, school assignments, and also just art for myself. With every sculpture my talent grows and I am more thankful for the ability to communicate through this medium.