ABOUT THE ARTIST

Sal Villano was born in New York City in 1944 into a large extended family of many artists. So, at a very young age he was always very aware of art in his life and was naturally attracted to expressing himself visually. He attended public grade school, high school and college. He also studied at The Art Students League in Manhattan. While still in college he assisted his uncle Charles Santaniello, a sculptor, in creating commercial displays for many New York businesses. And helped produce parts of an exhibit for a Worlds Fair in Europe. It was this time spent working with his uncle that he realized he too wanted to be a sculptor. After graduating college he went to work as a commercial artist. In 1969, after several years at this position he started his own art studio with another artist, this partnership provided the opportunity to produce a wide verity of commercial work. Some of the clients they created two dimensional and three dimensional work for are national and international companies. It was at the time he spent at the Art Students league that Sal created his first wire tree sculpture, While constructing an armature to support a clay figure, he noticed that the wire he was using could also be bent, twisted and wrapped to create a tree sculpture. Since that day, many years ago, he has created thousands of tree sculptures of various wire types and gauges and each carefully placed onto a base that is a vital part of the total piece. Whether viewed in direct sunlight casting harsh shadows or in soft candle light creating a gentle form, the tree sculptures created by Sal Villano each take on a personality of their own. As in nature, no trees can ever be created alike.