Yellowknife-born, Edmonton-raised Ward received his Fine Arts Degree from the University of Alberta in 1979. He went on to study classical figurative sculpture in Paris until 1989. When the opportunity arose to be closer to the foundry of his choice, Foundry Venturi Arte in Bologna, he moved to his current studio in Monte Carlo. When he was invited to teach at the University of Hanoi in 2003, Ward began a journey combining art and activism. His work evolved a bold socio-political voice calling out to our humanitarian dreams of justice, truth, and equality and he has been a positive force raising funds and awareness for the eradication of landmines around the world.
Blake Ward’s new sculptures from his Spirit collection are provocative figures that incite introspection. The Spirit series illustrates Ward’s contemporary approach to classical figurative sculpture and his development from firm academicism to a new liberating metallic expressionism building on the techniques of figurative sculpture developed in antiquity. His newest pieces challenge the classical figure by opening up the interior space of the human form as a way to search our inner selves. Holding fast to his love of the human figure, Ward remains true to the representational quality and the realistic proportions of traditional sculpture while simultaneously exploring new ways to comment on the trinity of human complexity: mind, body, and spirit.
Blake Ward exhibits internationally, including at The Front Gallery, Edmonton, Rouge Gallery, Saskatoon, Petley Jones Gallery, Vancouver, Hilton-Asmus Contemporary, Chicago, Articsók Gallery, Toronto, Galerie Saint-Dizier, Montreal and Maison d’Art, Monaco and Galleria Lumina, Bergamo, Italy.