Sculpture Art Fish Carving
I want to share with you the works and story of Casey Parlette, an extremely talented sculptor and outdoor naturalist. A southern California native, Casey grew up exploring the local hills, waters and wildlife. He drew inspiration from these elements and began to sculpt at a young age.
He went on to earn a degree in Anthropology from UCLA and then began to work as a commercial diver. He later moved into his present career as an ocean lifeguard. He also spent time exploring remote and exotic parts of the world. This adventure included working for FOX Sports as an underwater cameraman. During an eight month stint living in the Peruvian Amazon, Casey gets credit for discovering a new species of fish which was named after him: Rivulus parlettei.
All of this emersion in nature has become the source of his sculpting inspiration. He primarily recreates marine subjects from a variety of mediums. He often uses a combination of wood, bronze, brass, steel, titanium, abalone, mother of pearl, stone, concrete and more. Upon these materials he carves, hammers, forges, heat tempers and welds. Casey uses traditional blacksmithing techniques for the metalwork in his pieces. Casey applies a respect for the elements in their natural states and utilizes naturally occurring patterns to enhance the accuracy of a subject. “Many times the nature of the wood defines the sculpture”, says Casey.
“Every now and then you come across a piece of wood that has a certain life in it; you look at it and see the sculpture in there. Then it’s about cutting away the excess for everyone else to see.”
Casey also uses various metals colored with heat to create nature-inspired jewelry pieces. For example, titanium reacts to heat and creates amazing one of a kind color patterns that compliment his natural designs.
You can see for yourself that Casey’s artistic style creates remarkably naturalistic and beautiful artworks. His art will be on display at the Laguna Beach Festival of Arts in the coming months of July and August as well as other select exhibitions throughout the year. He also does commissioned architecturally integrated artworks for both private and public installations.
You can also admire his work, contact him, or locate more exhibitions on his website www.cpsculpture.com.
Check out the Impact Zone for more of his work!
