Statements
I am drawn to forms that explore humanness as it exists in the imagination. Whether human figures are absent or present, I see an emphasis on humanity as the unifying aspect of my work—humanity as it relates to its inventions, to nature, and to itself.
I make sculpture because I am interested in engaging people in real-space, real-time interactions. I used to make paintings, but I found that I began painting out the backgrounds. I only wanted a central, single image; and then I wanted it free from the blanked canvas so there would be no distractions and it would be as immediately present to us as possible. I wanted it to really exist—I wanted it to be sculpture.
I like to work in steel and wood because they are strong materials associated with hand-made objects that have a specific purpose. I think of each sculpture as a kind of tool or toy for creating a dialogue within the viewer. As we move around a sculpture or move it around in our hands, our view of it is constantly changing. It is not a fixed, idealized vision existing out of our reach. Instead, it responds to our movements and perspectives. It is by our exploration of a sculpture that its story reveals itself and we become part of that story.
As I climbed the leaning ladder, I noticed a parallel scene.The ladder’s shadow on the white house included a creature with no bones, with arms that stretched long from rung to rung. I was seeing a distorted, two dimensional, black and white projection of my own proprioception. The shadow being’s legs shortened as I felt the force of gravity seem to increase the further I got from the ground. The past and the future are always with us as we travel along on the present moment. Memories and future imaginings overlap and swirl with the situation at hand, and when we look at something we are also looking at things that aren’t physically there. Shadows stretch and reach, then are gone.
Bio
Torin Porter’s sculptures have been exhibited in New England galleries, in New York City, and in public spaces. His interactive sculpture installations have been featured at many Phish festivals. Growing up, he spent his summers with the Bread and Puppet Theater, and later performed with the MOMIX dance company and the rock band Jane’s Addiction. Porter was selected to attend several Vermont Week artist residencies at the Vermont Studio Center, and has taught sculpture classes at The Carving Studio. Porter received his B.A in Studio Art from Dartmouth College and lives in northern Vermont.
Exhibitions
One Less Traveled, Longwoods Preserve, Cumberland, Maine, 2025-2027
Parallel Forces, (solo show) Mitchell Giddings Fine Arts, Brattleboro,Vermont, June 21 - August 10, 2025
Mandrake, Noble and Greenough School, Dedham, Massachusetts, 2020-2025
Emergence, Open Air Gallery, Highland Center for the Arts, Greensboro, Vermont 2023-2024
Spring Group 2024, Mitchell Giddings Fine Arts, Brattleboro, Vermont, 2024
This Is Out of Hand, Institute of Contemporary Art, Portland, Maine, 2023
After Images, White Water Gallery, East Hardwick, Vermont, 2022
Into the Light, Mitchell Giddings Fine Arts, Brattleboro, Vermont, 2022
Beings, (solo show), AVA Gallery and Art Center, Lebanon, New Hampshire, 2021
Rock Solid XlX, Studio Place Arts, Barre, Vermont, 2019
Fault Lines, Studio Place Arts, Barre, Vermont, 2019
Origin Stories, (solo show), Foster Gallery, Noble and Greenough School, Dedham, Massachusetts, 2019
DayDreams, (solo show), Mitchell Giddings Fine Arts, Brattleboro, Vermont, 2018
Before Words, (solo show), Mitchell Giddings Fine Arts, Brattleboro, Vermont, 2017
Under Construction, Studio Place Arts, Barre, Vermont, 2017
Spring Visions, Mitchell Giddings Fine Arts, Brattleboro, Vermont, 2017
Winter Group, Mitchell Giddings Fine Arts, Brattleboro, Vermont, 2016
Exposed!, Helen Day Art Center, Stowe, Vermont, Summer 2016
Astronomer (solo), outside AVA Gallery and Art Center, Lebanon, New Hampshire, permanent since Summer 2016
Forms of Life (solo show), AVA Gallery and Art Center, Lebanon New Hampshire, 2016
Aviator (solo), Burlington International Airport Entrance, Burlington, Vermont, permanent since Summer 2015
Strength, Studio Place Arts, Barre, Vermont, 2015
The Waskomium: Where the Art Stops, Amy Tarrant Gallery at the Flynn Center, Burlington, Vermont. 2015
Dartmouth College Alumni in the Arts Biennial Exhibition, Hanover, New Hampshire, 2015
AVA Selections –Work by Twenty Artists, AVA Gallery and Art Center, Lebanon, New Hampshire, 2013
2 x 2, Studio Place Arts, Barre, Vermont, 2013
Tiny, Jaffe-Friede and Strauss Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, 2013
Unfamiliar Picnic, Kat Clear and Torin Porter, Goddard Art Gallery, Montpelier, Vermont, 2012-2013
Grounded (solo), outside Cushman Design office, Stowe, Vermont, permanent since 2013
Off the Wall, Studio Place Arts, Barre, Vermont, 2012
Out of this World (solo show), AVA Gallery and Art Center, Lebanon, New Hampshire, 2012
Connected to Vermont, Green + Blue Gallery, Hardwick, Vermont, 2012
Anthrobotanicals (solo show), White Water Gallery, East Hardwick, Vermont, 2011
Exposed!, Helen Day Art Center, Stowe, Vermont, 2011
Unbound, ArtisTree Gallery, Woodstock, Vermont, 2011
Inaugural Exhibition, Base Camp Gallery, Portland, Maine, 2011
4Play, Ethan Cohen Fine Arts, New York, New York, 2005
SculptFest ’05, The Carving Studio, West Rutland, Vermont, 2005
Escaping the Literal, Studio Place Arts, Barre, Vermont, 2005
Nobody Expects…, T.W. Wood Gallery, Montpelier, Vermont, 2004
Earth, Water, Air, Tamarack Gallery, East Craftsbury, Vermont, 2003
Red Hot, Studio Place Arts, Barre, Vermont, 2002
Torin Porter & Janet Van Fleet, Tamarack Gallery, East Craftsbury, Vermont, 2002
Ignition, The Firehouse Gallery, Burlington City Arts, Burlington, Vermont, 2001
The Last Frontier (solo show), Metronome, Burlington, Vermont, 2000
Contemporary Metalsmiths ’99, Young and Constantin Gallery, Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, 1999
22 Intangibles: An Exhibit of Time-Related Events, Exquisite Corpse Gallery, Burlington, Vermont, 1999
Buildings, Bugs, and Birds (solo show), The Karl Drerup Gallery, Plymouth College, Plymouth, New Hampshire, 1998
Fish Out of Water (solo show), The Firehouse Gallery, Burlington City Arts, Burlington, Vermont, 1998
Stratton Arts Festival, Stratton Mountain, Vermont, 1998
Senior Fellowship Exhibit (solo show), Jaffe-Friede and Strauss Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, 1993