ARTIST BIO

Randall Cleaver’s father was a huge packrat, always bringing home something he found at an auction, flea market, or junk pile. Randall would make his toys or adapt existing toys with the raw materials found in the basement and garage of his childhood home.

As a sculpture student, it was natural to scour salvage yards and rubbish piles for art supplies instead of buying new ones. This attitude of reusing and adapting existing parts still plays a significant role in today's work.

Randall was born in Reading, PA, in 1959. He graduated from Penn State in 1981 with a BFA in sculpture. In 2008 he completed the clock repair program at the School of Horology in Columbia, PA, where he learned clock repair and how to machine parts for his kinetic art. Randall spent twenty-five years living in Philadelphia and is now living in Takoma Park, Maryland, where he is happiest working in his shop.

ARTIST STATEMENT

My work combines what has been discarded to create machines. The machine’s motion involves the viewer's complexity of forms, textures, relationships, and humor.

Creating with found objects started as an inexpensive way to obtain materials, but soon, the things themselves became a source of inspiration. Once that happens, I go “shopping’ in my supplies, pulling out parts that look interesting. From there, the piece grows. Some details can take years to complete as I search for the perfect part.

I try to give the viewer the sense that the parts were manufactured to form the object so that the various parts transcend what they were.

In 2008, I attended the School of Horology’s clock repair program. This program increased my skill level in machining, allowing me to construct more complicated animation in my work today. While in the clock program, I spent a great deal of time reading and researching clocks, clockwork toys, and automata in the Horological Library.