Kimberly Callas

About the Artist

Kimberly Callas is a Maine artist who primarily sculpts in clay often using natural materials such as birch bark or wasp paper to enhance her artwork. Even though she is a classically trained figurative sculptor, she is influenced by African, Pacific Coast and other indigenous cultures who gather their materials from the earth and still use art as sacred object. Callas uses scholarly research and writing to explore and understand the meaning and relationships of the symbolic images in her art. "I've always been drawn to the various religions of the world, particularly their symbols and imagery. In my work, I not only create pieces out of existing religious and primitive symbols, but also strive to develop new symbolic ideas. My artwork is the edge of that evolution, particularly in how symbols work with us and through us. That's where the mystical side hits the scholastic side of what I do."

Through art and the history of sacred art within traditional cultures, Callas lectures how art can be used to remind humans of their home within nature that is both physically necessary and spiritually sustaining. She has lectured to a broad audience from urban centers and universities to sheep farmers and home-makers. Her artwork has been exhibited in galleries, museums and universities and has won several awards, including two Elizabeth Greenshield's Foundation grants and the Stobart Foundation grant. Please visit her sculpture at Harbor Square Gallery in Rockland, Maine.