From the archives: a note by Calfee from 1977.
I receive delight from placing things in a certain way in sculpture or painting so that they are interesting and meaningful to me. Of course there is an additional delight if what I do is interesting and meaningful to others.
I play with the elements of sculpture and painting - positive and negative shapes, light and dark, sharp and round, color and so on - in the anticipation that the work will act on the sense as does the kind of music that doesn't do what i expect it to. When I walk around one of my pieces it changes and I receive pleasure from this kind of surprise. In the same way I always receive that kind of real joy from the strange way a melody is turned in the music of Brahms,for instance, or in some Elizabethan music. The artist who is really inventive does such things almost naturally. Nothing ever seems to be done in the same way. He continually pours out his inventions.
Untitled (Orange & blue abstract), 1966
Oil on canvas
Frame: 41 1/4 x 63 1/4 in. (104.8 x 160.7 cm)
The William H. Calfee Foundation, Chevy Chase, Maryland
I don't have a method and may go about doing a work in one of several ways. For example, when I have a commission, I explore the possibilities in a number of models or sketches, and from these choose one or two that seem to work best. If one does three variations on the same theme he is able to assess each in relation to the others. Another way of working is by noticing the interest in some discarded shape that suggests further development. Sometimes as much as three years later I may add a section to such a piece or build a figure around it.
Whether in sculpture or painting, I place everything carefully in relation to everything else, so that every one of the large shapes or small spots, jabs, or diagonals knits its several parts together. In a sculpture the space is by all means equal in importance to the volumes and the space around the piece is also a part of it. In both sculpture and painting I intend that each shape relate to the others that are both further back or forward in space. In a painting I will use a certain blue, for instance, in many cases, as the last, and therefore the area closest to the surface. Since ordinarily blue indicates space or depth I put it intentionally forward to create a tension between it and whatever other color may be further back.
Sketch for Wilkinson Screen
1966
Brass
30 1/2 x 11 1/2 x 11 1/2 in. (77.5 x 29.2 x 29.2 cm)
The William H. Calfee Foundation, Chevy Chase, Maryland
Two other elements that I use frequently are reflections and shadows. A shape reversed may be seen as a reflection. In this case one may not be able to tell where the figure ends and the reflection or shadow begins. I am aware that there is a metaphysical idea related to this use of forms: that is, as one can move from one place to another in the structure, either up or down, so it is possible to move in oneself. I am able to receive nourishment from some deeper or “lower” part of myself as well as from what might be thought of as “higher.” This kind of thought will be found in a number of objects that looked at from one direction move up, but, as one moves around them change, and seem to move down.
The result of my handling of materials - the work of art - expresses an emotion not otherwise available. My work arises out of a combination of experience, thought and feeling the way leaves and fruit are produced by a tree of a combination of soil, sunlight, water and air.