Raymond Saa Stein
“Canastero”
Mixed Media
September 7 – October 10, 2012
Opening Reception: September 14, 5:30-7:30PM
Raymond works in many mediums, including sculpture, drawing and painting. The Spanish title ‘Canestero’ means ‘basket maker’. He describes his work as being about ‘process’ and collage but has also described an underlying interest in labor and inventiveness:
“My work, drawings in particular, are often labeled abstract impressionist and I have no objection to that. However the ordinary man’s personal struggle with growing and providing food; taming nature, building shelter; making something out of other ‘broken’ things is what fascinates me. Many cultures find the need to be inventive in re-using discarded products and it reveals a particular kind of creativity that very much appeals to my own process”
Raymond has received Teaching Fellowships through the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as grants from the Pollack Krasner Foundation and the Joan Mitchell Foundation. His work was included in El Museo’s Biennale – the (S) Files 2005, at El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY and at the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR. He has had solo exhibitions at White Columns (New York, NY), the Bulova Center at the Queens Museum (Queens, NY), the Crossley Gallery at the Ringling School of Art and Design (Sarasota, FL), Locust Projects (Miami, FL), Ambrosino Gallery (Miami, FL), Brooke Dorsch Gallery (Miami, FL) and Craighead Green (Dallas, TX) and the gallery at Sasaki (Boston, MA).
Raymond’s work is in the collections of the Miami Art Museum, Queens Museum of Art, Lexus Corporation, and the US Department of State, Art in Embassies, Tiawana American Consulate, Mexico. Raymond has been a faculty member at Drew since 2001. He has taught Drawing I and II, Ceramics I and II, Sculpture I and II and now works with the departments seniors on their yearlong thesis portfolios. He has been Chair of the department since 2009.