Artist Statement

My eye is drawn to the physical world, how light and shadow move across surfaces, and how nature cycles through growth, decay, and renewal. I observe the beauty of imperfections, the way objects shift in changing light, and the tension at the point where different surfaces meet. These observations have been integral to my work throughout my career.

My sculptures range in scale from small intimate pieces to larger works that are site specific. I work in steel, stone, wood, and paper, all of which allows me to explore my creative vision. Each piece begins with the seed of an idea, but through working with the materials, it evolves, often leading to unexpected solutions. This process is what has driven me and is central to my practice.

In my most recent commission, “Invasive Beauty, In a Meadow”, sited within a cultivated wildflower meadow on Long Island, I extend this exploration into a living environment. The work was conceived to shift with the seasons and the surrounding flora, alternately visible and obscured, present and absorbed. The orange powdered coated rods rise in organic groupings, as if emerging from the meadow itself, blurring the line between what is made and what is grown.

Critics Statements

"What IS A Landscape" Cutchogue Free Library, Curator Amei Wallach

"John Wittenberg took his hint from one of the furrowed fields that bracket winter on the North Fork. He was transfixed by how the light landed and where, how it defined the clods of earth that plows detached and weather disturbed. His view is up close and it is personal. He’ll single out one section of one furrow in all its complexity of changing shape and surface, joining shards of wood into life-sized and larger sculptures that hide the intricacy of their construction.  The minimal simplicity of both his sculpture and his paper pulp creations is deceptive. They emulate powerful forces.  They probe the processes by which nature acts and is acted upon. He makes handmade paper that converts two dimensions into three, often adding something from nature – stones, perhaps, mica – and then he watches what happens, and thinks about it, and lets nature take its course."

Amei Wallach

Curriculum Vitae

EXHIBITIONS

  • 2019

    The Carter Burden Gallery, Chelsea, NY

    2026

  • 2019

    The Church, Sag Harbor, NY

    2025

  • 2019

    Vine + Sand, Solo Exhibition Southold, NY

    2025

  • 2019

    East End Arts Satellite Gallery, Solo Exhibition, East Hampton, NY

    2025

  • 2019

    Center for Environmental Education and Discovery, Brookhaven, NY

    2025

  • 2019

    The Carter Burden Gallery, Chelsea, NY

    2025

  • 2019

    The Carter Burden Gallery, Chelsea, NY

    2024

  • 2019

    Gallery 14C, Slant : Perspectives on Sculpture, ISC, Jersey City, NJ

    2024

  • 2019

    East End Arts, Juried Exhibition, Riverhead, NY

    2024

  • 2019

    Guild Hall, Members Exhibition, East Hampton, NY

    2024

  • 2019

    Center for Environmental Education and Discovery, Brookhaven, NY

    2024

  • 2019

    The Gallery at Holy Trinity Church, Solo Exhibition, Curator Franklin Hill Perrell, Greenport, NY

    2024

  • 2019

    East End Arts, Juried show, Riverhead, NY

    2023

  • 2019

    Center for Environmental Education and Discovery, Brookhaven, NY

    2023

  • 2019

    View Arts Center, Juried Show, Old Forge NY

    2023

  • 2019

    East End Arts, Curators Pick, Riverhead, NY

    2022

  • 2019

    Center for Environmental Education and Discovery, Brookhaven NY

    2022

  • 2019

    Detour III, East End Arts Gallery, Riverhead NY

    2022

  • 2019

    Natali/Keyes Gallery, Greenport, NY

    2022

  • 2019

    VSOP Projects, Greenport, NY

    2021

  • 2019

    Cutchogue Free Library, Curator, Amei Wallach, Cutchogue, NY

    2021

  • 2019

    North American Hand Papermakers, NY, NY

    2020

  • 2019

    Dieu Donne, Of Pulp and Paper, Brooklyn, NY

    2020

  • 2019

    Guild Hall Members Exhibition, Award, East Hampton, NY

    2020

  • 2019

    East End Arts Members Exhibition, Riverhead NY

    2020

  • 2019

    VSOP Projects, Winter Salon, Greenport NY

    2019

  • 2019

    East End Arts and Humanities Council, Riverhead NY

    1985

  • 2019

    Guild Hall Members Exhibition, Award, East Hampton, NY

    2019

  • 2019

    VSOP Projects, Winter Salon, Greenport NY 2019

  • 1985

    East End Arts and Humanities Council, Riverhead NY

    1985

  • 1984

    Bank Street College, Group Show, NY, NY

    1984

  • 1983

    Sperry Building, Group Show, NY, NY

    1983

  • 1983

    Warner Communications Gallery, Group Show, NY, NY

    1983

  • 1983

    New York University Graduate School of Business, Group Show, NY,NY

    1983

  • 1982

    Cork Gallery, Lincoln Center, Group Show, NY, NY

    1982

  • 1982

    The Salmagundi Club, Society of Contemporary Artists, Group Show, NY, NY

    1982

  • 1981

    “Contemporary Stone Sculptors Group Exhibit,” School for Visual Arts Gallery, NY, NY

    1981

PUBLIC WORKS and COMMISSIONS

  • 2018

    “Invasive Beauty, A/flame in the Woods”  Powder coated distressed aluminum rods, Center for Environmental Education and Discovery, Brookhaven, NY (CEED)

    2025

  • 2018

    “Invasive Beauty, In the Meadow” Powdered coated distressed aluminum rods, , Bellport, NY,  Private Collection 

    2025

  • 2018

    “Invasive Beauty IV” Bamboo, Orange Enamel Paint, compostable straws, Center for Environmental Education and Discovery, Brookhaven, NY (CEED)

    2024

  • 2018

    “Invasive Beauty” Bamboo, Orange Enamel Paint, Center for Environmental Education and Discovery, Brookhaven, NY (CEED)

    2023

  • 2018

    “ Four by Four Spread” Bamboo, Center for Environmental Education and Discovery, Brookhaven, NY (CEED)

    2022

  • 2018

    “Furrow”, Honey Locust, Graphite, Steel, Southold, NY

    2018

  • 1984

    “Stand”, Painted steel sculpture, Cortelyou Branch Brooklyn Public Library, New York, 1% for the Arts, New York

    1984

  • 1984

    “Opus 1274,” Vermont Marble, Otter Creek Park, Vergennes, Vermont. Grant from the Vermont Council on the Arts

    1976

  • 1984

    Marble Sculptures, Battery Park Sculpture Project, Battery Park, Burlington, Vermont

    1975

  • 1984

    “Metamorphosis”, Marble, South Burlington Middle School South Burlington, Vermont. Grant from the Vermont Council on the Arts

    1974

EDUCATION

  • 2019 - 2020

    Community Residency, The Church, Sag Harbor, NY

    2023

  • 2019 - 2020

    Dieu Donne, Community Studio, Brooklyn NY

    2019 - 2020

  • 1972 - 1974

    Apprenticed to sculptor, Paul Aschenbach, Hinesburg, Vermont

    1972 - 1974

  • 1973

    Boston Museum School of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts

    1973

  • 1968 - 1972

    Bachelor of Arts, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont

    1968 - 1972