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Keith Crane /
Damon Thomas
HOUSTON TX
"Migrations"
Kolanowski Studio
​A mostly self-taught outsider artist, Keith Crane loves sifting through metal salvage yards and “junk” stores for those diamonds in the rough that may one day become the catalyst for a new creation. Using those found treasures—binding elements together through welds and fastenings—he has been creating otherworldly- and botanical-esque works since the 90s, and you may just stumble upon one around the Heights in the gardens and homes of friends and collectors. His creative curiosity was piqued early on by an artistic aunt who used metal as a primary medium and later inspired by the vibrant art scene in Houston and the quirky, art-centric nature of the Heights neighborhood where he’s lived since 1988. He was further inspired by the incomparable Houston artist and longtime friend, Mark “Scrapdaddy” Bradford, and his legion of fantastical, mechanical creations, as well as his collaboration on several sculptural works with Houston mosaic artist and good friend, Chris Silkwood, including their public art installations “Dazy Mae,” Art on Longpoint, Redbud Arts Center, Houston, and “Flower Power”—created from an industrial venting fan, metal salvage and glass mosaic—for True North in 2016.
Damon Thomas hand builds his clay works using stiff slabs and hand-formed coils—intentionally leaving traces of hand building and other “imperfections” in the surface. True North was proud to exhibit his radiant and meditative sculpture, “Home Fire,” in 2019—a work of clay logs and steel flames. His style is an abstracted realism that generally follows human proportion, from which he freely deviates, and he often combines clay sculpture with found objects—which carry their own stories. Thomas says “My artwork, like me, is often called quiet; I am drawn to glazes and surfaces that quieten and unify the pieces. I hope that my art is soulful and meaningful. If it is, then I have accomplished what I set out to do as an artist.” Born in the Heights, and growing up in the East End, he was drawn back to the neighborhood in 1996. Thomas attended High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Houston, earned a BA from University of Houston, an MA from University of Texas at Austin, and holds a Certificate of Achievement in Ceramics from The Glassell School of Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. “Kirk and David” (pictured with Damon) is on exhibit at The Jung Center, Houston, through 10.31.26.
Vincent Cianni
With their collaborative sculpture “Migrations,” Damon Thomas creates rotating casts of beguiling creatures in glazed and fired clay—changing seasonally over the duration of the exhibition: a flock of bright red birds in spring; a parliament of owls through summer; a colony of bats for fall…and Halloween; and a scurry of squirrels during the cold winter months. Keith Crane’s 3-D puzzle-like tree form of welded, oxidized mild steel and stainless steel carriage bolts gives creature comfort to, and a 360-degree view of, these multi-changing inhabitants.
Keith Crane / Chris Silkwood
"Flower Power"
True North 2016
Gary Griffin
Gary Griffin
