Carroll Todd is celebrated for whimsical bronze sculptures that are formally sophisticated but never solemn. His practice explores form and movement with an effortlessness and grace rarely present in metalwork. Encouraged to play, explore, and build in his childhood, his appreciation for creative construction was established a young age. Drawing influence from modernist design tendencies, his representations of animals and natural elements range from quite literal to total abstraction, and at times fall somewhere in between. Todd’s process begins with a sketch; once established on paper, it evolves into a small maquette to engineer the bends and folds that the bronze assumes on a larger scale. He then cuts, rolls, bends, forms and welds the sheet bronze. Finally, he applies patinas and wax to achieve a highly finished, elegant surface. From monumental to miniature in size, each work is enhanced and altered by the effects of light, shadow and scale of its setting.
Carroll Todd is a native Memphian with a BFA from Memphis College of Art and an MFA Cornell University. Over the course of his 40-year career, he has exhibited in New York, Chicago, California, and Tennessee. His work is in the collections of Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock; Autozone Inc, Memphis; Design Network, St Louis; General Electric, Rockefeller Center, New York;L ittle Rock National Airport, Little Rock; Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis; Miniature Museum of Contemporary Art, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Mobium/Graphic Management Corporation, Chicago, and Tudor Investment Company, New York.
