2006 Internationales Skulpturen symposium 2006, ART entlebuch.ch (Escholzmatt, Switzerland )
2006 1st International Symposium of Monumental Sculpture (Chiang Mai, Thailand)
2006 7th International Obernkirchen Sculptor Symposium (Obernkirchen, Germany)
Introduction
Precolumbian art from his native land, the Andes, notably influences his work. He produces in granites, basalts, marbles, crystals, salt, also in stainless steel, cement, bronze, always experimenting with new materials. He respects the innate characteristics of each medium in order to transmit emotions with symbolic values, linked to the essential concepts of life, always searching for a new question to involve the observer.
The scaled line is a symbol of the material, the relative, and the curved line invokes the unlimited of spiritual life. Both are employed in his monumental work either to intervene in or transform space. As well, playing with light and shadows of volumes is a trait of his sculptures, either in natural or urban settings.
Ted Carrasco's sculptures in small format possess a monumental quality and modify the intimacy of their space, inviting the spectator to caress them. Carrasco cannot be pigeonholed within any particular current or ism. Rather, his work share a personal touch, the result of confronting modernity with plasticity.
He has participated in more than 100 expositions, individual and collective, in Europe, America and Asia. Carrasco's monumental public work --some pieces are more than 20 meters high and weighing 240 tons-- is characterized by a harmony with the environment where they are placed. The monument to Marshall Santa Cruz in the Heroes' Square of La Paz, Bolivia and the granite ""Andes"" in the Olympic Park of Seoul, Korea are examples.
Carrasco represented his country at the World's Fair in Seville, the X Biennal of Sao Paolo, the X Biennal of Midleheim in Antwerp. He also participated in the Five Year Exposition at Soonsbec, Netherlands and in other international sculpture events.
His work is in several museums and he has received more than fifteen awards. Ted Carrasco is an international sculptor actively working in different countries, always maintaining a vigorous identity with the Andes mountains where he was born.
Since the year 2002 he has workshops in Mexico and France.
(from: http://www.tedcarrasco.com/html/artist.html )
“...besides the typical artist who sculpts directly in stone, another Carrasco has emerged, however, he is as fascinating and persuasive as the other one. He is the Carrasco of bronzes and one can say, without exaggeration, that he is one of the most favored by the current young sculpting.” (“Algemeen Handelsblad”. Amsterdam. January, 1964, Hans Redeker)
“His work is a big ode to life and love. He has found his inspiration in primitive forms, in biological processes, and also in some ingenious brain-shapes. Every time, you feel deeply moved by the expression of his forms; he intrigues you, keeping in some way his mystery.”
(“Gazet Van Antwerpen” Antwerp, Belgium, 08-06-1971)
“Ted Carrasco has always worked with stone “a material which dictates a special way of working, thinking and seeing in space. He uses bronze in a fairly spontaneous fashion, handling it directly in the casting mould. His plastic vocabulary derives from Andean traditions and he reminds us of the fact that all pre-Columbian art is based on a concept tied to cosmic laws, which means that life, religion, and art are intimately related to elemental and natural energy.”
(Ante Glibotya, ed. Olympiad of Art. Seoul Olympic Organizing Committee. Paris Art Center.1988)
Ted Carrasco comments: “I have taken as initial point the study of pre-Columbian art, which is characterized by the fact of simplifying reality and creating a language vital symbols which reflect the equilibrium between men and nature.”
“The artist has developed a thematic line, which is far from the descriptive style; it shows the essence and depth of beings and myths, topics and concerns of the men of all times, of universal men”
“He is especially interested in uncovering endless material expressions. His purpose is to discover innovative and unusual factors which are potentially in the elements chosen for his work.”
“The sculptor possesses the faculty of making people perceive the micro-cosmos lodged in the abstract spaces of reality. It is as if he wished to look for inspiration in the text provided by nature.”
(Dr. Pedro Qerejazu. “Ted Carrasco” Chile, 1988)
“Ted Carrasco’s sculptures claim for general attention due to his peculiar way of reflecting the traces of the combat occurred in the exchange process between creative impulses and the material nature.”
“When being in touch with his work, one can perceive how he uses his visionary imagination to renew the dialogue with reality.”
(Jose Antonio Perez Ruiz ”Ted Carrasco in Puerto Rico University” in Primer Simposio de Escultura. Puerto RicoUniversity, 1992)