In The Workshop With… Casey Parlette, Wildlife Sculptor
Working in wood, metal and stone, sculpting used to be a side job for Casey Parlette, who spent his days lifeguarding on the beach. Eventually, he was so busy using the skills he both taught himself and learned from others in the industry (blacksmithing and metal fabrication), he jumped into it full time 15 years ago.
In the center of his studio sits an enormous metal fish sculpture he is creating for a client as a ceiling light installation. It is comprised of approximately 100 fish fabricated of perforated sheet metal. The rough sketch of his vision for the piece is on the floor. He’s old school, hand sketching his ideas, rather than formulating them on a computer. “With sculpture you have to see it or feel it, and it either looks right or wrong. It changes a little bit as it goes.”
Of this huge sculpture, he says, “The key with sculpture is you want to create an environment, create a story out of the material and have a flow… an element. A lone fish or a mackerel doesn’t have the same impact as this school of fish. There is flow and an essence of that life.”
Everything Casey creates is unique and often the first time he’s made something of its kind. He brought out a really interesting piece of wood some friends sent him from the Amazon, knowing he could do something cool with it. Then he started pulling small metal sculptures and assembling a project he’s been working on for the Festival of the Arts in Laguna. It’s a wall sculpture with bronze sea anemones, sea stars, clams, fish and seaweed. Every piece has been crafted to fit perfectly on or around that interesting piece of Amazonian wood, resulting in a gorgeous art assemblage.
I asked Casey how he has learned to do all that he does. He responded, “It all comes down to problem solving. I don’t know where you go to learn all of this stuff under one roof. You just start and do whatever you can do, then you hit a wall and you need to think your way out of that problem. Then you get through that and hit another wall. So it’s a matter of hitting walls and figuring out ways around, under or through them, and then going on to the next thing. I like the problem solving aspect of it, which is probably part of the reason I like sculpture as much as I do.”
It really is remarkable to see what this artist, who loves the ocean and sea life, can create with the raw materials of wood, metal and stone.
Website: Casey Parlette
Studio: 2307 Laguna Canyon Rd
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