Durow received his MFA specializing in large-scale sculpture at Tulane University in 2006. In 2022 he accepted the position of Assistant Professor and Head of Glass at California State University at Chico, where he lives with his wife and three children.
Durow’s work has been exhibited throughout the United States and Europe including Art Miami and Sofa Chicago; and is included in multiple public and private collections. His solo exhibition Heartland at the Taylor Museum in Colorado Springs, CO was funded in part with a grant from the NEA. His work has been reviewed and written about in Sculpture Magazine, Art in America, Glass Quarterly and New Glass Review.
Artist Statement
As an independent artist working at scale my creative practice had to embrace whatever resources were available. As a result, much of my work is created using repurposed or recycled materials. This approach has given me the freedom to explore many methodologies in solving aesthetic and conceptual problems and a depth of experience working with a wide variety of materials.
I embrace this materiality in my work because I find it a valuable metaphor for human agency, imagination, and will. I am drawn to glass which is visually light but physically dense, or steel because it can be visually delicate but physically strong. The multifaceted and contradictory nature of these materials form the core of my artistic practice.
The abstract nature of my work is the result of this necessary back-and-forth with diverse and disparate materials, and paring down a complex and personal narrative into a form that can be embraced by a wide audience. I want the work I create to be a conversation with the viewer in the same way that creating the work is a dialog with the material.
Whether it’s a work of art or a better world, the essence of being human is the ability to imagine what does not exist and through determined acts of will redefine reality. It is the nature of this relationship between our minds and our hands that allow the objects we create to be both a reflection of our inner selves and a catalyst for profound experience. As an artist I want the work I create to be an honest reflection of my experiences, and to use the lessons I’ve learned from that experience to create artwork that speaks to the healing power of community, creativity, and imagination.