Totem Box
Becky Blanchard’s Staff Pick:
Henry Van Calcar’s steam bent, round boxes are among the most unique, challenging, original, and beautiful ideas conceived and materialized since I have been at the Stonington Gallery. Henry woke up in the middle of the night years ago, and asked himself if it would be possible to make a circular steam bent box. After much analysis and experimentation, he pulled it off. If that isn’t remarkable enough, Henry’s exquisite formline designs so impeccably engraved and painted onto the round surface is incredible. I had the great joy of watching Henry carve this box on his boat in Glacier Bay, Alaska last summer. His love of the waterways of SE Alaska and the native cultures that inhabit them are Henry’s great passion. This masterful work honors that passion.