Cascade No.5 Wire Tree Sculpture, with hammered leaves Sculpture

Sal Villano was born in New York City in 1944 into a large extended family of artists. From a very young age he was aware of art in his life and was attracted to many different forms of visual expression. Sal attended public grade school, high school and graduated college with a degree in commercial art. He continued to pursue his love of art at The Art Students League in Manhattan. While attending college Sal worked part time with his uncle Charles Santaniello, a sculptor, who designed and created magnificent displays for commercial accounts and several World Fairs and Expos in the United States and other countries. It was during the time spent with his uncle, watching him create beautiful figures and animal characters using only chicken wire, tissue paper and wall paper paste, that Sal realized he too wanted to become a sculptor. After completing college Sal worked in Manhattan as a commercial artist for toy manufacturing companies and art studios. In 1969 Sal established his own art studio with another artist. This partnership lasted for many productive years and provided Sal the opportunity to create a wide variety of art work. Commissioned by several large national and international companies, Sal, along with his partner, produced a great deal of two and three dimensional art work. It was during his studies at The Art Students League that Sal happened by chance to create the first of what would turn out to be his work and his passion...Wire Trees! While constructing an armature to support a clay figure, Sal observed and felt that the wire he was using could be bent, twisted and formed into the basic shape and structure of a tree. Since that chance happening many years ago, Sal has created thousands of tree sculptures. Tree sculptures created by Sal Villano range in sizes 2 inches and up, using different wire types, colors and gauges. Each tree is incorporated into a base which then becomes a vital element of the piece. One of the most interesting results of this work is that, as in nature, no two wire tree sculptures can ever be the same!