Maine-based sculptor Don Justin Meserve explored narrative and abstract themes in a variety of media. His work reflects a love of the sculptural process, a hands-on approach and technical skills informed by an American industrial design education combined with European craft training. Over four decades he developed a formidable mastery of materials, particularly those associated with traditional sculpture.

While working as a designer early in his career, Don invented functional forms for everyday objects. His later artwork – particularly the “Spirit of the Machine” series - alludes to these early designs but gives them an entirely new life. Interpreted in granite, a scalpel becomes a giant obelisk and machine parts metamorphose into menacing creatures. Working on the Maine coast inspired the marine themes and natural imagery which inevitably surface in his sculpture. “The Sea” series explores maritime lore, boat building and fishing. Carving side-by-side with Japanese and Maori artists influenced Don’s appreciation for the ship as a metaphor for the journey of life. While he expressed the sea with overlapping curvilinear forms – fins, sails, waves – denizens of nearby woods inspired Don’s “Creatures” series.

Don’s later sculptures were primarily stone carvings although he also produced works cast in bronze and pewter. An avid reader, Don probed 19th century literature for romantic and spiritual themes while researching polar exploration. As facile with ideas as materials, Don drew on life experience for inspiration, notably weeks spent alone in the Arctic wilderness while serving in the US Army.

After receiving a degree in industrial design from University of Bridgeport, Don completed graduate studies at the Royal Academy of Art in Copenhagen. Architecture firms there hire designers as generalists and expect them to move fluidly between disparate assignments. Don joined the staff of two of Denmark’s leading firms and designed architectural details, furniture, glassware and jewelry commissions for Prince Bernadotte, among other projects.