DANIEL SADLER 1957-2004 It is with regret that we announce the passing of Daniel Sadler on February 25, 2004. His website will remain for the time being as a tribute to his life and work. Contributions may be made in Danny's name to: The Epilepsy Foundation 4351 Garden City Drive Landover, MD 20785-7223 Phone: 1-800-332-1000

Cubist Self-Portrait. 2003

My work represents the steady evolution of a life-long fascination with strange lights! From jack-o-lanterns at Halloween, to black light posters, Lava Lamps, and campy, neon motel signs! During the 1970s, while growing up in Charlotte, NC, I was fortunate enough to study with famed art educator Dean Barber, who also encouraged my growing interest in kitsch Americana. I began to be inspired creatively by things such as mobile homes, pink flamingos and bowling alleys! In 1976, I was awarded a scholarship to my choice of several art schools, and I chose the Philadelphia College of Art, (BFA, 1980), now known as University of the Arts, where I became inspired by the work of pop artists like Andy Warhol and Claus Oldenburg. So it was inevitable that all these interests and fascinations would eventually be combined.

Initially, as an art college student, I began making sculptural constructions combined with printmaking techniques. But soon, very gradually, light bulbs began appearing in my work! Instead of making paintings or huge sculptures of clothespins or soup cans, I began making illuminated sculptures of my own array of common and sometimes kitsch, everyday objects.

However, I have been on a constant search for unusual ways in which to express myself, and after graduating from college, I wrote and recorded my own songs, worked as a professional cook, and even experimented with designing and making clothing. In 1985, I went to graduate school at Philadelphia’s Temple University, where I studied video editing and computer graphics.

In 1987, I moved to Los Angeles and found work as a computer graphics artist, a career, which would support me for 10 years. During this time, I once again returned to making my strange “lamps”, and even began selling them in several Southern California galleries. I began experimenting with using fiberglass as a medium, but soon realized how toxic this medium was and began looking for a safer alternative. Through much research, and a very lucky accident, during the summer of 1994, I invented exactly the medium, for which I was searching. This unique process starts with a type of metal screen, which is hand-shaped and applied to a welded wire framework, permeated with several coats of a non-toxic type of liquid plastic, and then hand painted. The Camper Trailer and TV were my first designs to sell using this technique, and in 1997, I became self-employed from the sales of these “illuminated sculptures”.

Having also studied photography with Byron Baldwin in Charlotte, during high school (winning awards through Scholastic Magazine Competitions), and a printmaking major in art school, it was inevitable that these early skills and interests would also find their way into my illuminated sculptures. In 2002, I developed a technique, which I now use in works such as the “Chinese Take-Out”, "Cubes" and “Shabitats”. These pieces are created using my own photographs, printed with light-fast inks onto a translucent vellum-like material and applied onto hand-welded steel wire frameworks. Suddenly, I'm flooded with ideas, and that's all I want to do! As a result, I've recently "phased out" my earlier designs and stopped using the plastic mesh material entirely... For a while! (Commissions are still possible however)

Being as much inventor as artist, I am constantly expanding and enriching the unique range of materials and imagery through which I express myself. Watch for many new ideas and materials of expression to come...