A Biography of Kristen Visbal
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The artist, Kristen Visbal, bottle feeds one year old Gidget while researching THE PROWLER at Amazing Exotics in Umatillia, Florida in February 2006. |
Passionate attention to detail and fluid movement are the distinguishing characteristics reflected in the work of sculptor Kristen Visbal. The uniquely ephemeral quality of her bronze compositions capture the fleeting image and carry Visbal's stamp of originality. These expressive figurative and animal bronze works range in size from tiny miniature studies to grand public monuments, such as Jacksonville, Florida's Passing The Torch which depicts 1964 Olympic gold medalist and Dallas Cowboy football star, Bob Hayes, the "fastest man on earth" for 32 years. Other public works include the award winning ten foot Sea Express of a boy riding a dolphin for Oceanfront Park in Jacksonville Beach, FL and The American Cape, a twelve and 1/2 foot composition of Alexander Hamilton for Hamilton, Ohio. Visbal's Girl Chasing Butterflies is part of the Merrill Lynch corporate collection and was installed at Hershey Gardens in Hershey, PA in October 2005.
Visbal's ability to capture emotion and the accuracy of her work is largely
innate. After graduating summa cum laude from Salisbury State University
in Salisbury, MD, she served briefly as intern for Virginia wilflife
sculptor William Turner after whichshe embarked on a three year apprenticeship
to study the technical aspects of Lost Wax Casting at the Johnson Atelier
Art Foundry in Mercerville, NJ. Visbal apprenticed with artists from
all over the world in this widely acclaimed program while she honed the
skills necessary to create and oversee the production of her bronze sculptures.
At the Johnson Atelier, Visbal was awarded an internship in mold making
and subsequently taught a mold work shop.
Greatly inspired by the sea, Visbal originally migrated to the Delaware Eastern
Shore from her home town in Potomac, Maryland in 1988 and returned in
September 1998 to establish her modeling studio on a vineyard in Lewes,
DE. In 1999, Visbal began work on the twelve and a half foot composition,
The Players. An engineering
feat with two of the figures completely airborne, this privately commissioned
work depicts three brothers and a sister engaged in a game of two on
two basketball.
Visbal's work has become part of many important public and private collections,
including her first commission by the former Vice President of Colonial
Williamsburg and her second by the Merrill Lynch corporation. Visbal
is a recipient of
the Charlotte Dunwiddie Memorial Award for a Realistic Sculpture through
the Pen And Brush as well as the Gold Medal Of Honor through the Catharine
Lorillard Wolfe Arts Club, both of New York City. Recognition has also been
awarded Visbal in Louisiana as well as Florida.
Visbal is a frequent participant of the prestigious annual Brookgreen Gardens
Sculpture Park Curator's Auction in Murrell's Inlet, South Carolina and
her work has been exhibited at the Lincoln Center, The Pen and Brush
Club, the National Sculpture Society, and the National Arts Club in New
York City, as well as the Symposium For The Preservation And Biology
Of Sea Turtles in Orlando, Florida, the Woodburn Governor's Mansion in
Dover, Delaware, The Easton Waterfowl Festival in Easton, MD, and the
Ward Wildfowl Museum in Salisbury, Maryland.
Visbal is included in Who's Who In The World 2002 - 2006 and is an active participant in the National Sculpture Society, the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Arts Club and the Pen and Brush Club of New York City.
K r i s t e n V i s b a l
f i n e b r o n z e s c u l p t u r e
Ph: 302-645-9075 kristen@visbalsculpture.com Fax: 302-645-7884
17618 Vineyard Lane • Lewes, Delaware 19958
copyright © 2002 Kristen Visbal