Austin Ballard

Austin Ballard relies on the architecture of textiles to create complex spirited sculptures. Derived from the rattan palm, Ballard’s core material evokes a sensitivity for touch and reflection. Ballard received his MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and a BFA from the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, where he also served as an Assistant Professor in Textiles. Ballard has been awarded full fellowships to Yaddo, MacDowell, the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Ox-Bow School of Art, Vermont Studio Center, Wassaic Project in New York, McColl Center for Art + Innovation, Long Meadow and the Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop in Great Britain. He has received a Joan Mitchell Foundation Sculpture Fellowship, a Windgate Foundation Fellowship, a Kenneth Stubbs Endowed Fellowship, and the Peter S. Reed Foundation Grant. Ballard has held exhibitions at McKenzie Fine Art, Smack Mellon, Wave Hill, Whitespace, Post Times, Pentimenti, Ortega Y Gasset, David B. Smith, Field Projects, and Beers Contemporary. His work is on permanent display in the US Embassy of Morocco and has been included in institutional exhibitions at Brown University, North Carolina Museum of Art, Mint Museum, Provincetown Museum of Art, Boston University, Ithaca College, University of North Texas and the Rhode Island School of Design. He currently lives and works in Ridgewood, NY.