Fred Crist

I live in Charlottesville, VA, and my studio is located in an industrial complex in Waynesboro, VA. It is about 1500 square feet filled with the usual blacksmithing tools, 2 mechanical power hammers, a 60-ton press coal forge and gas forge, 5 anvils of varying sizes and a multitude of hand tools made and collected over 42 yrs. of forging. My work covers everything from letter openers, small sculptures, gates and railings, and free standing sculpture. Over the years I have met and briefly worked with Paul Zimmermann, Freddie Habbermann, Serge Marchal, probably the three most important influences in my ironwork outside the Yellin Studio. Other influences include Robert Motherwell, Alberto Giacometti, Franz Kline and Frank Stella and Eduardo Chillida to mention a few. My sculptural direction consists of making abstract sculpture using traditional forging techniques and tools, applying the principles of Chaos Theory, formalizing the coincidental and emphasizing the conscious process behind seemingly random forms.