Bobby Zokaites
I am a sculptor who engages my imagination through the creation of large-scale, colorful, and engaging objects and spaces.
Category: Artist/Individual
Discipline: Public Art
Program Affiliations: Artist Roster
About Bobby Zokaites
Bobby Zokaites is a U.S. based sculptor skilled in a variety of materials with a wealth of experience producing large scale works for private and public spaces. His industrious work ethic and urban design sense enable him to create distinctive works of art that foster new and dynamic relationships between community, site, history and the natural environment. Blurring the line between fine art, public sculpture, and collaborative practices, his work engages diverse audiences,
humanizes public spaces, and often encourages participation with larger-than-life-sized artwork. Zokaites earned his BFA at New York College of Ceramics at Alfred University (2008) and his MFA in Sculpture at Arizona State University (2014). He recently completed two permanent municipal infrastructure projects in Arizona. It is integral to Zokaites' practice that his work connects residents to one another and their community in new ways, creating new and lasting experiences.
Bobby Zokaites
Preferred Pronouns: he/him
zokaitessculpture@gmail.com
http://www.bobbyzokaites.com
A Time Machine Called Tinaja by Bobby Zokaites
Using historical aerials, activities with neighborhood groups, and charettes with local students to spur preliminary design concepts, we returned a defunct well-site to its community as a set of sculptural arches, luminarias, perimeter fencing and a winding, landscaped path. By repurposing this land, we solved local lighting and safety issues and planted enough new trees and vegetation to significantly reduce the amount of radiant heat coming from the site. Here, the resident youths’ resonant and poignant reflections on the local experience became civic design that will exist beyond our lifetimes.
—
Dimensions: 19′ x 179′ x 74′ (full site)
Materials: Powder-Coated Steel, Polyurethane Panel, LED Lighting System, Concrete, Native Plantings
Location: 73rd Ave and Crittenden Ln, Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Commissioned by: City of Phoenix — Water Services and Office of Arts and Culture
Partner: Dig Studio — Landscape Architects
Wailuku Wings by Bobby Zokaites
Wailuku Wings provides an interactive experience where the center’s youth can stand in front of it and feel a sense of awe, empowerment and play as the moment is captured for an ongoing photo project. The composition is based on the moment right before a butterfly takes off—the posture of preparation, expectation, and flight. Translucent imagery embedded in the wings layers an aerial image of west Maui’s watershed with the colorful gradient of the native Koa butterfly; superimposed are graphic translations of a locally-developed weave structure within the dark patterning of the Kamehameha butterfly, Hawaii’s only other native butterfly.
—
Dimensions: 8′ x 8′ x 3′
Materials: Steel, Automotive Paint, Polyurethane Panel
Location: Imua Discovery Garden, Wailuku – Maui, Hawaii, United States
Commissioned by: Imua Family Family Services / Small Town Big Arts
Image by Grey Shed Studio
An Antonym for a Tchotchke
Abstracted air handlers on high perches overlook the streetcar stop at Dorsey Road. The contemporary presentation of seemingly arcane items remind viewers that Tempe is not only built around the industry of the college, but also thrives due to its other histories of manufacturing and industry.
—
Dimensions: (2) 20' x 6' x 2'
Materials: Steel, Automotive Paint
Location: Apache Blvd and Dorsey Rd, Tempe, Arizona, United States
Commissioned by: Valley Metro / City of Tempe
