photo by: Image courtesy of Spencer Museum of Art

"Hanging in the Balance," a sculpture by Wendell Castle, was created in 2002 and acquired in 2003 by the Spencer Museum of Art at Kansas University. An overturned bronze chair rests on a pillow molded from jelutong wood. The dark chair provides a stark contrast with the trompe l'oeil beige pillow.

photo by: Contributed photo by Garry Geer

Wendell Castle

photo by: Photo courtesy of Wendell Castle

"Curious Paradox," by Wendell Castle (nine tables made of stained ash with oil finish, 2012). This piece was part of the recent "Wendell Castle: Volumes and Voids" exhibit at Barry Friedman Ltd. in New York City. The gallery billed the exhibit this way: "Multiple dimensions are explored as Castle expands on the possibilities of voids and volumes. Castle augments, re-configures, and gives girth to many familiar shapes — mirror-image chairs, a settee, desk and tables — and the end result is of a new magnitude — fluidly merged, amorphous elements form surprisingly functional furniture."

photo by: Photo courtesy of Wendell Castle

"A Secret of a Few," by Wendell Castle (stained ash with oil finish, 2012)

photo by: Photo courtesy of Wendell Castle

"Dark Wish," by Wendell Castle (stained ash with oil finish, 2012)

photo by: Photo courtesy of Wendell Castle

"What We Know" and "What We Dream," by Wendell Castle (stained ash with oil finish, 2012)

photo by: Photo courtesy of Wendell Castle

"A New Environment" by Wendell Castle, an installation of stack-laminated pieces spanning two stories was recently exhibited at Friedman Benda in New York City. According to the gallery: "Inviting dreamers to imagine, Castle incorporates seating pieces, a table, a lamp and a spiral staircase leading to a nest resembling a tree house. A culmination of Castle’s own history of ideas and the resolution of formidable technical challenges, this dynamic environment offers Castle’s public a bewitching play of abstraction, function, and fantasy."

photo by: Photo by Spencer Museum of Art photographer Ryan Waggoner

Spencer Museum of Art director Saralyn Reece Hardy and artist Wendell Castle during a visit to Castle's studio.