Artist Statement:
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My sculpture is primarily biomorphic and abstract in form. Angular edges combine with curvilinear planes forming vaguely organic structure. I tend to avoid overly symmetrical compositions in favor of odd, unlikely and irregular shapes which I feel offer more potential for interesting and unique design.
Often I approach the work intuitively and spontaneously without much or any planning, letting the conceptual idea develop or be discovered in the process. I encourage random chance, improvised expression and dumb luck to play a part in defining my visual vocabulary.
Fiberglass is the principal medium for my work. Applied to a foam armature the construction is then coated with an epoxy finish and painted. This lightweight, versatile and structurally durable process allows the capacity to work in a wide range of form and scale.
I consider my artistic influences to be early Modernism and Surrealism. I have high regard for Japanese craftsmanship and aesthetic, and admire the life and work of Isamu Noguchi, R. Buckminster Fuller and Zdzislaw Beksinski...just to name a few.
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Bio:
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Born in 1956 Artist Frank Vining was raised in the Southern California coastal town of Laguna Beach. He showed an interest in drawing and painting from a young age and began a formal education in fine art in the early 1980’s
While attending art and design classes at Cabrillo College in Aptos, California he was awarded a scholarship to attend The San Francisco Art Institute as a full time contemporary sculpture major. As a student at SFAI he had a solo installation exhibit titled Sound and Light at the Diego Rivera Gallery and participated in the MFA group exhibition held at the Walter and Mcbean Gallery.
In 1985 he continued his fine art studies at The University of California at Irvine. This period saw the participation in a number of gallery and Museum exhibitions including: An invitational exhibition at Angles Gate Museum of Art, in San Pedro, Ca. A juried competition at the Laguna Beach School of Art and Design which his work was awarded an honorable mention and an invitational group exhibition at the Orange County Museum of Art, Irvine, Ca, featuring seven emerging artists titled New Juice in Orange County.
With a new and growing family Frank relocated to the Hawaiian Islands where he began what would become a twenty year career in the artificial sculpted rock industry. His time in the islands saw the completion of many resort and commercial projects including the design and installation of 17 reptile exhibits at the Honolulu Zoo and the construction of a quarter acre koi pond with 18’ sculpted rock waterfall at the high rise, Honolulu Park Place.
During this time he also received a commission from the Na Aina Kai Botanical Gardens and Sculpture Park on the island of Kauai to create a fiberglass sculpture featuring flying Tropic Birds. The twelve foot high sculpture Flight of the Tropic Birds was mounted in the center of a small lake and remains a highly used photo backdrop at the gardens.
1996 saw the Vining Family relocating to the Pacific Northwest where Frank joined the Seattle based Jolly Miller Company as Lead Artist for the artificial rockwork installation at the then under construction Alaska Sealife Center, located in the small town of Seward.
Upon completion of the Alaska Sealife Center project Frank and family moved to Bainbridge Island in the Seattle area where he continued employment with JMC as Lead Designer and eventually General Manager. Here he contributed design and installation work to numerous zoo and public aquarium exhibits including producing the working scale models used for the construction of The Oregon Zoo’s Great Northwest exhibits.
As the turn of the century approached the Vining’s were on the move again, this time back to California to the central coast town of Santa Cruz where he founded Vining Studios, an artificial rock contracting company. Many commercial and residential projects followed. In 2010 after a decade of business in the Silicon Valley and Monterey Bay areas he retired from contracting.
Frank returned his focus to fine art and began studies at Lynn Benton College in Corvallis Oregon. During his time in Oregon he produced a variety of commissioned and non- commissioned illustrations many of which have seen publication and he enjoyed a solo exhibition of his paintings at The Majestic Theater Gallery in downtown Corvallis.
With his wife Judith, Frank currently resides in Encinitas, California. His primary artistic pursuits have come full circle returning to contemporary sculpture. Abstract, biomorphic shapes produced in fiberglass typify his work. Many of his pieces are large and designed for outdoor display in public art settings.
During his long career he has explored many aspects of design and fine art. He gained extensive experience working in computer generated design and digital painting as well as 3D architectural and organic modeling. He worked as a design engineer completing projects for Wedgewood China, Chevrolet Corporation and Ocean Pacific Company and had the great fortune of working for Bucky Fuller and The R. Buckminster Fuller Foundation on the development of fiberglass tooling for Fullers 50’ Fly’s Eye Geodesic Dome. In 1980 he participated in the installation of the finished dome in downtown Los Angeles’s Pershing Square, which housed LA’s Bicentennial Celebration display.
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Exhibition History:
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2022 Oceanside Museum of Art, Artist Alliance Biennial Exhibition.
2019 Oceanside Museum of Art/ Sparks Gallery, San Diego, Ca.
Artist Alliance Juried group exhibition.
2019 Art Room Gallery, artroomgalleryonline.com, Juried international group exhibition finalist.
2015 Majestic Theater Gallery, Corvallis Oregon - Solo exhibition.
2012 Line Zero Magazine, Published Image - Juried competition.
1986 Na Aina Kai Botanical Gardens & Sculpture Park, Kauai, Hawaii - "Flight of the Tropic Birds" sculpture included in permanent collection. naainakai.org
1985 Angles Gate Museum of Art, San Pedro, California - "Light" invitational group exhibition.
1985 Laguna Beach School of Art and Design, Laguna Beach, California Juried group exhibition, awarded "Honorable Mention"
1985 Orange County Museum of Art, Irvine, California - "New Juice in Orange County" Invitational group exhibition featuring seven emerging Orange County artists.
1984 Walter and Mcbean Gallery, SFAI, San Francisco, California - "MFA Student Show"
1984 Diego Rivera Gallery, SFAI, San Francisco, California - "Sound and Light" Solo Installation.
1980 Collectors Choice Gallery, Laguna Beach, California - "Eros 2" group Exhibition.
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