George Ray McCormick, Sr. does Vanguard Sculpture Service's divestment and
foundry operation as well as wax chasing and spruing. He is a renowned
artist, scroll down for his biography and artist's statement and to see
some of his work.
Biography
A resident of Milwaukee since 1950 George Ray McCormick, Sr. was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1944. He received a certificate of completion in 1989 for tailoring from Milwaukee Area Technical College and then studied basic welding in the late 1990's. He won first place in doll making competition for a carving of Mary McCloud Bethune. Following this, he won more awards for his one of a kind works of art.
Presently George has an article about him and his work in Folk Art Messenger Magazine depicting his work and discussing his recent retrospective exhibition, From the Secular to the Spiritual, at the Charles Allis Art Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
George has exhibited in numerous galleries including The Garden Room, which hosted his first solo exhibition in 2003. He was selected to participate in a ten day national folk festival sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. in 1998. It was restaged later that year in Madison, Wisconsin at the Wisconsin Sesquicentennial Folk Festival exchange program.
Artist's Statement
My work is like a cleansing. What I am now creating helps me to overcome the limitations of my past choices and gives me a spiritual connection to God. At this time I am journeying on a better path. I am evolving in a new direction as a flame evolves from a spark. Acknowledgement of both the secular and the religious, is an important influence in the development of my subject matter. The secular work is about my association with what is known as "worldly things" like alcohol, prostitution and drugs. The results being incarceration, bad health, lost income, housing and clothing. I was spiritually dead, which eventually caused me to make a paradigm shift and strive to transform my life. This shift, reflected in my religious carvings, constantly draws upon my childhood upbringing in the Baptist church and my present studies of the bible.
I wanted to sculpt in wood, and prayed to God to show me how to do dolls and figure woodcarving. After a lot of hard work, God answered my prayers. Other examples of the secular work are the carved basswood relief pieces referred to as "flat people." In my 20's and 30's I dressed like some of the men I carve or I knew people who did and I associated with women who dressed like the ladies. I also have many images of present day "fly girls," who represent the many "fast girls" or "ladies of the night." They usually have wigs to change their appearances often. They wear short skirts, bare midriffs and boots to attract men. As I have mentioned, this part of my life caused me a lot of trouble. To escape the trouble, I left the streets and prayed. "Climbing Out of Hell," is a carved painted relief. The subject reflects a person, climbing a ladder surrounded by the flames of hell and the Devil, striving to get away and seeking a spiritual goal. In 1999, influenced by the work of Josephus Farmer, I began to carve all the way through the wood.
When God instructed me to study welding, I had no idea that welding would encompass most of my present work. After beginning my apprenticeship at Vanguard Sculpture Services, I felt a connection to the old blacksmiths of African descent. The Sankofa sculpture represents that connection. From this new knowledge and connection to metal, a spark was fueled in me. With metal, I continue to tell the story of my life.
Biography
A resident of Milwaukee since 1950 George Ray McCormick, Sr. was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1944. He received a certificate of completion in 1989 for tailoring from Milwaukee Area Technical College and then studied basic welding in the late 1990's. He won first place in doll making competition for a carving of Mary McCloud Bethune. Following this, he won more awards for his one of a kind works of art.
Presently George has an article about him and his work in Folk Art Messenger Magazine depicting his work and discussing his recent retrospective exhibition, From the Secular to the Spiritual, at the Charles Allis Art Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
George has exhibited in numerous galleries including The Garden Room, which hosted his first solo exhibition in 2003. He was selected to participate in a ten day national folk festival sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. in 1998. It was restaged later that year in Madison, Wisconsin at the Wisconsin Sesquicentennial Folk Festival exchange program.
Artist's Statement
My work is like a cleansing. What I am now creating helps me to overcome the limitations of my past choices and gives me a spiritual connection to God. At this time I am journeying on a better path. I am evolving in a new direction as a flame evolves from a spark. Acknowledgement of both the secular and the religious, is an important influence in the development of my subject matter. The secular work is about my association with what is known as "worldly things" like alcohol, prostitution and drugs. The results being incarceration, bad health, lost income, housing and clothing. I was spiritually dead, which eventually caused me to make a paradigm shift and strive to transform my life. This shift, reflected in my religious carvings, constantly draws upon my childhood upbringing in the Baptist church and my present studies of the bible.
I wanted to sculpt in wood, and prayed to God to show me how to do dolls and figure woodcarving. After a lot of hard work, God answered my prayers. Other examples of the secular work are the carved basswood relief pieces referred to as "flat people." In my 20's and 30's I dressed like some of the men I carve or I knew people who did and I associated with women who dressed like the ladies. I also have many images of present day "fly girls," who represent the many "fast girls" or "ladies of the night." They usually have wigs to change their appearances often. They wear short skirts, bare midriffs and boots to attract men. As I have mentioned, this part of my life caused me a lot of trouble. To escape the trouble, I left the streets and prayed. "Climbing Out of Hell," is a carved painted relief. The subject reflects a person, climbing a ladder surrounded by the flames of hell and the Devil, striving to get away and seeking a spiritual goal. In 1999, influenced by the work of Josephus Farmer, I began to carve all the way through the wood.
When God instructed me to study welding, I had no idea that welding would encompass most of my present work. After beginning my apprenticeship at Vanguard Sculpture Services, I felt a connection to the old blacksmiths of African descent. The Sankofa sculpture represents that connection. From this new knowledge and connection to metal, a spark was fueled in me. With metal, I continue to tell the story of my life.
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