About the Artist
Richard X Zawitz, sculptor, inventor and Thaumaturgist, was born in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, a place long known for its steel industry and Andy Warhol. Zawitz’s early sculptural inclinations were deeply anchored in these in two inspirational elements.
Zawitz attained a degree in Fine Arts sculpture, with additional majors in Asian Philosophy and Asian Art History from the University of Hawaii 1972.
Zawitz’s work in sculpture has been devoted to manifesting essences and energies of Chinese Taoism, Zen, and other metaphysical and alchemical traditions.
Zawitz had the good fortune of being born at the right time, enabling him to embrace the free spirit of the 60s, while still an art student under the tutelage of Prithwish Neogy, Master Thinker and Chairman of the Art department at the University of Hawaii. There, Zawitz ‘unlearnt’ arts’ Western biases, and it was also from that point onwards that the artist and experimentalist ultimately chose sculpture to be the medium for his creative expression.
Zawitz’s accomplishments include the creation and invention of what he calls“Curvism" in three dimensions and The Tangle Particle.
His work encompasses not only Infinity Art but the ubiquitous plaything "Tangle" . Zawitz employs numerous materials
and mediums in his work, including wood, stone, metals, plastics, fauna and flora, and mind.
The artist’s sculptures are found in public, and private collections worldwide, while his miniature works of art, Tangle Playthings, having sold over 100 million editions worldwide, can be found in homes, schools and offices.
Richard X Zawitz has dedicated the past 40 years of his life to the promotion of peace and creativity on this planet.
Artist's Statement
I dedicate this site to Creativity as the raison d’être for my being and existence.My work since the late 1960s has been devoted to the essences and energies which first became manifest to me through Chinese Taoism and then through the entire alchemical pantheon of the form and formlessness of Asian philosophy and metaphysics. With the good fortune of history (and in particular the mind freedom, revolution and
counter culture movements of the mid 1960s) matching my in-born urges, I was also able to unlearn the western bias toward aesthetics and the arts. Thus, as a natural born threedimensional plus-ist, I chose sculpture to be the medium for my art.
At the Art Department of the University of Hawaii I was mentored by an esteemed scholar from India,
Professor Prithwish Neogy. In our one-on-one sessions as master and pupil, I was assigned a variety of projects from looking for specific lava rocks to carve, to meditation and the study of Zen painting and
reading other scholars, including Jacques Maritain, D.T. Suzuki and of course Neogy’s own mentor Ananda Coomaraswamy. During this period I learned about many things including the ancient Indian concept of Rasa which then became an important focus of my own aesthetic. Rasa is the complete immersion of the individual with art and with the tradition of the art. My understanding of Rasa in combination with the study of Asian art history and philosophy influenced me in many profound ways and I have ever since attempted to manifest this sculpturally. I believe there are key periods in the course of an individual artist or seeker’s life that are influential in the shaping of that life just as there are key periods in history that are influential in shaping cultures and civilizations. The 1960s was the right place for me and the right time to both learn and un-learn. For me it was a once in a lifetime transformational period and I have carried the benefit of that experience with me ever since. In his book “Iconoclast” the neuroscientist Gregory Berns describes how innovators are able to unlock their creative potential. Like them, I have no fear of change.
After my graduation in 1972 Professor Neogy recommended that I go to Japan to study with his great friend the renowned Zen painter Morita Shiryu, and with the local carvers who make Buddha sculptures in wood. I spent one year in Kyoto which at that time was a crossroads of creativity where Westerners like me were able to meet and embrace the essences and energies of the East and art.
My studies and experiences led me to hypothesize the existence of one essential particle of matter which in turn led to my discovery of the “Tangle Particle” which manifests itself in two distinct and parallel ways and is explained through science and humanism. The essential manifestation of the “Tangle Particle” is as a spiral, wave, curve, circle or arc. In nature and science it is found in galaxies, proteins, light waves, sound waves, hurricanes, cyclones, the growth patterns of all manner of fauna and flora, and in every culture’s art and design (think Van Gogh Sun Flowers and Starry Nights, and every type of painting (including body art) or textile design which uses knots, curves, spirals, waves or circles). Make your own observations
someday, you will amaze.
The images you will see in this site are my Tao. My Tao manifests it’s oneness through the multiplicity of entities that I have created and which I think have in some small way may have benefited humanity.
Wherever these works are placed, I can promise an emission of positive energy into the environment. I do not think it is enough to just displace space with so-called art or sculpture; instead, one must strive to reach the people who will experience the art. In a world of negativity I try to provoke happiness and well-being. My mission is “Peace Through Creativity”.
In this website you will see examples of work from every period of my life. Alien Buddha is a stone, wood and stainless steel mixed work, that took a painstakingly long time to make, but was as a result more rewarding to complete. The stone I used is called “Picasso Marble” and it was a joy to work with. It is very hard, and contains curving streaks. As a sculptor, my job was to find and depict them in much the same way that a painter builds an image using line and tone. My later sculptures include Infinity 634, a site specific work that was commissioned by the JW Marriott hotel in Hong Kong in 2009 for the hotel lobby. The exact positioning of this work completes a near perfect environment for positive energy with glass, water, wood, stone, plants and people.
My small sculpture called “Tangle” has sold more than 100 million copyrighted editions globally, and is used for everything from play to therapy and has educational uses as well as offering pure aesthetic pleasure. My series of large scale sculptures called “Infinity” that are made in stainless steel and other related
materials are another attempt to represent the Tao in a three dimensional-plus form. I think people engage with these works both through their visual elegance and their unseen energies. The Tangle Particle is also versatile enough to be applied to functional things including lamps, constructions toys, sculpture as furniture, and stereo speakers.
My work also includes virtual sculpture that helps me to visualize how my physical sculpture would appear in a variety of environments. The virtual world allows me to think and plan on a massive scale. These
monumental works are akin to landmark architecture in scale but have no function other than enhancing the amenity of the environment through a universal aesthetic and generating generous flows of positive energy.
The overall purpose of the site is to enlighten and amuse the mind and the senses. I am a true believer in creativity as the purpose of life and the reason why we are all here. I think that all of the great cultural
occurrences that are known in recorded history, from the founding of religions through to the development cultures and entire civilizations, are founded on man’s basic urge to create.
There are three aspects to life – the physical, intellectual and the spiritual as in the world of things, the world of thought and the world of feelings. Some of these are present in all forms of life but it is only in man that all three come together in body, mind and spirit. It is the combination of all three that gives us the capacity to believe, to reason and to create. The traditional hierarchy of man’s needs is based on a solid platform of physiological needs with safety, love and belonging, esteem and self actualisation in ascending order above them. I believe that creativity, and the drive to become everything that one is capable of becoming is in fact a basic need that must be met or there will be an imbalance in nature. I see the lack of balance in global affairs and the general shift towards a negative environment as evidence of this and therefore believe that the need to create, and facilitate creativity, is greater than ever.
I want to thank Andrew McWalters for his creative skills and art direction. I would also like to thank my family and dedicated wife Kanya and children Nick and Aimee, and my grandson Charlie. Gosh knows I would be living in a cave somewhere without them…..
I wish everyone who reads this site creativity and wellness and invite you the reader to project that creativity and wellness both outward and inward.
Very sincerely,
Richard X Zawitz