BIO 2021
Terry Holzgreen is a cabinetmaker and self-taught artist who creates functional and sculptural works made of wood. As a young man he attended a radical hippy high school that built him a dark room and he created wall hangings that dangled from tree branches. He even had a phase of experimenting with clay and the potter’s wheel.
Holzgreen started working as a carpenter in his mid-twenties by buying a hammer, an electric circular saw and a power drill and putting an ad in the local newspaper for general carpentry with no prior experience. While plying his craft he became a craftsman - facing problems, making mistakes and finding solutions.
Now his skills, passion and voice have converged and ignited. His former cabinetry activities and shop have transformed into an artist’s studio. He’s utilizing the same space, tools and many of the same materials but nothing he’s made resembles the work he’s producing today.
“The one sure fire way to get the juices going for me is to start gluing. Much of my work is made almost mosaic or collage style, assembling various types and shapes of wood into the same piece.”
Recent exhibitions and awards include: Wood Exhibition, temporary title, Museum of Art and History, Lancaster, California (2023), Windgate International Residency, Center for Art in Wood, Philadelphia, PA (2022), American Craft Council, Baltimore, MA (2020), Best in Show Award, emerging artist, American Craft Council, San Francisco, CA (2019), and Honorable Mention, “Design in Wood” contemporary furniture, San Diego County Fair, CA (2019).
Holzgreen received The Award of Excellence for emerging artists in Hip Pop Program at the American Craft Council Show, San Francisco, CA (2020). The Council wrote, “Holzgreen’s work stood out not only for his beautiful forms and vessels, but also his practice of using scraps from his former life as a cabinetmaker and fallen or felled urban trees.” Juror Jennifer Morla wrote, “Beauty, craft, a unique vision, and sustainability are all reasons to give Terry this award.”
Curator Dr. Leslie King-Hammond, founding director of the Center for Race and Culture, Maryland Institute College of Art, stated, “I was struck by the beauty of Holzgreen's lidded wooden boxes, bowls, benches, and tables-using the remains to design objects of sublime beauty and extraordinary craftsmanship.”