Luke Eldridge has never known a world without art. It is a talent that he inherited from his mother, and is what he was born to do. Luke has been creating art since he was a young child, and received formal training from several sources. As a teenager, Luke broke away from his traditional art roots and started experimenting with wire at the urging of his high school art teacher. Beyond having a natural aptitude for this unique medium, Luke found that the level for advancement and subject matter was limitless with wire. Luke Eldridge is completely self-taught in wire, that means every technique, every style, every sculpture you see has been developed and constantly evolved by the artist and has taken years to refine. Luke is rarely seen without his metal case, which he fondly referrs to as his “Traveling Studio”. In it you are sure to find spools of varying colored wire and several sculptures in various levels of completion. With his traveling studio in hand, Luke tours around to different locations and does his art whenever, wherever inspiration strikes him.
Luke Eldridge chooses to focus on figurative and organic subject matter that conveys a sense of movement and emotion in each sculpture.
“When I create, I want to take something that is inorganic and metal and transform it into something that has a sense of life, something that reflects nature and myself. Each piece that I create has a bit of myself in it.”
His sculptures vary from his popular line of small, whimsical angels and garden fairies, to entire themed chess sets and life-size expressionistic human forms. Each sculpture is handcrafted and unique, and many are custom pieces that Luke designs to order. He is currently producing a series of large shadowboxed scenes that, taken together, tell an original story of medieval chivalry and divine intervention. Other current projects include stop-motion “wire-mation” that he is collaborating on with another artist. While his usual medium is copper, steel, gold, and silver wire of varying gages, Luke occasionally incorporates sheet metal, wire mesh, clay, and other mediums in order to stay fresh in his chosen craft.
As an activist promoting art in education, Luke enjoys traveling to schools to share his craft with students, and to encourage students to express themselves through art of their own. Luke has taken part in summer camps, held lectures at high schools, and even taught art to children as young as five at montessori schools.
“Art is a vital element that is often overlooked in today's society. The beauty of art is that it traverses racial, social, and class boundaries uniting universally everyone exposed to it. In addition, art is the ultimate mode of expression, it's cathardic for the artist, sometimes even therapeutic. I fail to understand how educational institutions don't see this as a valuable developement tool."
He has participated in exhibitions at galleries and festivals throughout Atlanta, Georgia, Lexington, Kentucky, New York, and Key West, Florida. Luke is currently represented by Café Tu Tu Tango and the Boswell Gallery in Atlanta, and by Artique Jewelry and Gift Gallery in Lexington, Kentucky. He has been honored as Artist of the Month by several galleries and institutions, and his work has been reviewed by several newspapers and appeared on television.
Luke Eldridge is a resident of the Atlanta area, and can be frequently seen wielding his craft in pubs and restaurants, where he enjoys meeting and socializing with his patrons, answering questions and accepting their custom commissions.
