Found: The sculpture of Randall Cleaver

Found: The sculpture of Randall Cleaver

Randall Cleaver combines found and discarded objects to create his sculptures and automata. The found objects themselves become the source of inspiration as the various parts transcend their original use to become a new work of art. Cleaver’s working style is intuitive: he begins with a germ of an idea, and as it grows, different relationships are uncovered and the form of the work responds to these discoveries. He likes viewers to be amused and surprised by the pieces as they discover the various parts, interact with the animation, see the glow of the lights, or hear the clocks activate on the hour.
Born in Reading, Pennsylvania, Randall Cleaver graduated from Penn State University with a BFA in Sculpture. As a sculpture student it was a natural thing to scour salvage yards and rubbish piles for art supplies instead of buying new. This attitude of reuse and adapting existing parts still plays a major role in his pieces today. Randall expanded his skills at the School of Horology where he learned to use a metal lathe and mill to make mechanisms for his kinetic sculptures.