Contrasts and contradictions permeate the works of abstract sculptor John Van Alstine of Wells. Globally acclaimed for his masterful pairing of stone and steel, Van Alstine and his wife, renowned sculptor Caroline Ramersdorfer, have their homebased studios, galleries, and outdoor Adirondack-Sacandaga River Sculpture Park just off Route 30 on an idyllic nine-acre parcel of land bordering the Sacandaga River.
Van Alstine has spent the past 37 years transforming and revitalizing the picturesque six-building property, once the site of a thriving 19th century wood products mill. Fascinated by the complex relationship between the natural and industrial worlds, Van Alstine finds endless inspiration in the Adirondack landscape that surrounds him.
“My sculpture consists of found objects,” he explains. “I use stone as I find it in nature or quarries, often granite or slate, and combine it with found, discarded industrial remnants from marine salvage yards, scrapyards, and abandoned manufacturing sites. I think of my abstract sculpture as a combination of nature with the built, or industrial, environment. The two elements are continually working together to create some kind of statement, either conflict or concert.”
Van Alstine creates gravity-defying sculptures by taking weighted stone, usually the negative space of a piece, and turning it into a positive. “By pairing it with steel, I am able to lift earthbound stone into the air, freeing it and making it dance. A visual paradox is created when you see something you know to be heavy being lifted up, suspended in air in a way that creates a feeling of lightness.”
When Van Alstine first began sculpting in the 1970s, he carved stone traditionally by subtracting from the stone. But while in grad school, after one of his finished pieces toppled to the floor and smashed, he had an epiphany. “Initially, I was devastated,” he recalls. “But when I returned to view the scene the next day, and saw all these beautiful broken crystals sparkling in the sunlight, I changed direction and began working with pieces of stone as I found them—as raw materials, without carving. It was a life-altering experience.”
Over his 50-year career, Van Alstine has developed many different series of works, including nautical, mythological, and Adirondack themes. During the recent pandemic, he created more than 60 lockdown-inspired pieces out of stone and bronze. “By creating a number of related works,” he explains, “I am able to express my evolving ideas over an extended period of time, rather than trying to capture them in a single piece.”
One of the sculptor’s most pervasive ideas, his Sisyphean Series, is based on the Greek myth of Sisyphus. A particularly diabolical tyrant who repeatedly angered the gods, Sisyphus was sentenced to roll the same massive stone to the top of a hill over and over again for eternity.
“I’m always thinking about how to convey my ideas in a formal or physical way. For me, the idea of repeatedly pushing a stone up a hill, only to have it roll back down again, is like a self-portrait. I’m always doing that. Sometimes, I’m physically lifting the stone up, but more often I’m doing it in a figurative way in the sense that I’m pushing to a creative peak, finishing a piece, and then starting all over again with a new idea.”
Although a punitive action for Sisyphus, the repeated uphill process is exhilarating for Van Alstine. “The process itself is most important,” he asserts, “and the finished object embodies that process.”
Originally from Johnstown, NY, Van Alstine began his college career at St. Lawrence University, intending to become a gym teacher. All that changed, however, when he took an undergraduate sculpture class and discovered the infinite possibilities of clay, mold-making, stone-cutting, and welding. After earning his Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts at Kent State and his Masters in Fine Arts at Cornell University, Van Alstine taught at colleges in Wyoming and Maryland before becoming a full-time artist in 1986 and relocating to Wells one year later.
Today, continually inspired by the rugged beauty of the Adirondacks, Van Alstine can’t imagine living anywhere else. “My Adirondack roots go deep. I grew up skiing and racing competitively in the area with my family. My dad was an engineer, and my grandfathers were builders, so I come from a line of makers with a physical understanding of things. Three-dimensional work has always interested me. I’ve done clay, ceramics, pottery, and glass-blowing. But sculpture is direct. It’s substantial. It’s real to me. It satisfies my need to build something and feel like I’ve really accomplished something at the end of the day. I’m doing things that my family had done for years before me, but with an art focus.”
Van Alstine has exhibited his work in countless solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States. His current show, Forging Creative Journeys: The Art of John Van Alstine, runs through September 22 at The View in Old Forge.
His many notable outdoor sculptural commissions include the City of Saratoga Springs’ Tempered Memory—a 9/11 Memorial, comprised of steel remnants from the World Trade Center—and Beijing, China’s 2008 Olympic Park sculpture: Ring of Unity/Circle of Inclusion, still standing in Beijing today.
Year-round, Van Alstine welcomes visitors to his world headquarters in Wells. But appointments are required, so please call ahead. A warm and engaging guide, the sculptor enjoys showing visitors around his workshop, gallery, and grounds, discussing what he does, and sharing his knowledge of the historic Adirondack site he calls home. So, for an unforgettable artistic adventure, make a date with John Van Alstine . . . and discover the wonder of abstract sculpture!
To learn more, visit www.johnvanalstine.com or email
