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McLean will reveal his latest work at
Northwest by Northwest Gallery in Can-
non Beach from 1 to 3 p.m. on May 7.
McLean plans to display abstract pieces
sculpted from white Georgia marble, red-
wood and basalt rock. While the Portland
sculptor has demonstrated his welding
technique, a skill learned from working
on ranches near his childhood home in
Point Reyes Station, California, McLean
soon found that his audience flinched at
flying sparks. “Almost everything I do
makes noise, and you need eye covering,”
McLean said.
Despite the lack of an active demon-
stration, his new works “promise to be
intriguing as usual,” Northwest by North-
west Gallery owner Joyce Lincoln said.
Lincoln, who owns the gallery with her
husband, Bob Necker, is a great admirer.
“When you see something he has made,
it’s already in our shared pool of con-
sciousness. It’s really good, distinct, con-
sistent and authentic. Basically, just like
him,” Lincoln said.
“Sculpture is his language,” Lincoln
said. “Everything is mesmerizing. Peo-
ple engage with it, it’s like it’s an exten-
sion of the natural world. It really appeals
to people,” she added.
While some of McLean’s flowing
sculptures evoke wings or waves, he is
best known for his giant spheres. Stain-
less steel pieces are welded together in
a sphere and form a weaving, transpar-
ent and often colorful pattern. When
installed on water, they seem to skim the
surface. In a field, they resemble colorful
tumbleweeds.
McLean first started creating spheres
while building furniture, using scraps and
forming spheres. “People really loved
it, and there is something so cool that
you can have them in any environment,”
McLean said. “You can have them in the
woods or in a formal garden or even in
the house,” he added.
Spheres are a symbol of nature, a full
circle effect. “There’s something about a
sphere that is elemental to people. All the
planets are circular, our cells are circular.
To have a perfect sphere, there’s some-
thing indefinable about it.”
Photo by Nancy McCarthy
ABOVE: ‘Re-Invention’ by Ivan McLean, a
sculpture seen in many private collections
ranging in size up to 20 feet, on display in
Cannon Beach. RIGHT: A dragon sculpture by
McLean has a fire breathing feature.
McLean’s techniques began with
skills learned from his father, a carpen-
ter and contractor, however his weld-
ing experience began at the suggestion of
his brother. Finding joy in welding while
in college, McLean repaired and welded
gates on the 9,000 acre campus of Cal
Poly San Luis Obispo, his alma mater.
“You make a mistake in wood and it’s all
over. In metal, you cut it, weld it, grind
it, it’s all good. I like that quite a bit,”
McLean said.
For several years, he and his brother
created chairs, candlesticks and racks for
wine and CDs, but 15 years ago, McLean
narrowed his work to sculpture. His
expansive workshop now sits in a former
shipyard under the St. Johns Bridge in
Portland. “Now I do a lot work in metal,
also stone, wood carving, glass. Whatever
the job needs, I’ll give it a go,” McLean
said.
Art “makes for interesting people,” he
added. While he often works with devel-
MCLEAN’S WORK HAS NOW COME FULL CIRCLE, WITH
MANY SCULPTURE PIECES ON DISPLAY AT HIS ALMA
MATER. HIS OTHER PIECES, INCLUDING A METAL FISH
AND FIRE BREATHING DRAGON, HAVE APPEARED
AT EVENTS UP AND DOWN THE PACIFIC COAST AND
BEYOND, INTEGRATING THEMSELVES INTO THE WHOLE
OF THE LANDSCAPE WHEREVER THEY APPEAR.
opers or building owners, his passion lies
in creating sculptures for individuals.
“It’s really kind of a magical thing to be
part of somebody else’s vision,” he said.
And McLean’s work has now come full
circle, with many sculpture pieces on dis-
play at his alma mater. His other pieces,
including a metal fish and fire breathing
dragon, have appeared at events up and
down the Pacific coast and beyond, inte-
grating themselves into the whole of the
landscape wherever they appear.
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THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022 // 7