The Arthur Roger Gallery is pleased to present Re-Purpose, an exhibition of sculptural works by Louisiana artist Mitchell Gaudet. Featuring monumental cast glass installations that merge reclaimed devotional objects with industrial materials, the exhibition will be on view from August 1 through September 12, 2026. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, August 1, from 6:00 to 9:00 PM in conjunction with White Linen Night.
Working at the intersection of sculpture, architecture, and spiritual symbolism, Gaudet transforms found religious figures into contemplative monuments through the language of cast glass. Wood Buddhas, santos, plaster lambs, steel, cast iron, and concrete are combined with luminous cast glass and precious metal leaf, creating works that balance physical weight with visual transcendence. Rather than preserving these objects as relics of the past, Gaudet reimagines them as vessels for renewal, inviting viewers to consider themes of memory, devotion, and transformation.
The exhibition centers on five large-scale sculptures that occupy the gallery as both objects and environments. Dreaming Buddha, a monumental freestanding installation measuring six feet high by six feet wide, surrounds a silver-leaf Buddha with a gathering of cast glass birds that suggest meditation, migration, and awakening. Nearby, Santos elevates a traditional devotional figure within a monumental architectural framework of steel, cast glass, cast iron, and concrete, while Wanderer presents a solitary saint embedded within a luminous wall-mounted composition. Additional works, including Buddha and two sculptural interpretations of Lambs, continue Gaudet’s exploration of familiar spiritual iconography through unexpected material combinations.
Central to Gaudet’s practice is the transformative potential of glass itself. Cast glass simultaneously conceals and reveals, capturing light within solid form while preserving traces of the artist’s process. Its optical depth allows commonplace materials to assume an almost ethereal presence, creating moments where the industrial and the sacred coexist. Steel and concrete provide permanence and structural rigor, while shimmering fields of gold and silver leaf recall centuries of devotional art, placing contemporary sculpture in conversation with historical traditions.
A native of southern Louisiana, Mitchell Gaudet has built a multidisciplinary practice spanning cast glass, metalwork, and large-scale installation. His work reflects a lifelong interest in craftsmanship, material experimentation, and the visual language of sacred objects. Drawing inspiration from both the industrial landscape of the Gulf South and centuries-old religious traditions, Gaudet creates sculptures that are at once deeply rooted in place and universally resonant. His work has been exhibited throughout the Gulf Coast and has been recognized for its inventive integration of glass casting with reclaimed materials and architectural forms.
With Re-Purpose, Gaudet continues his exploration of how objects carry history. Through acts of reconstruction rather than preservation, he reveals new possibilities within familiar forms, suggesting that transformation is not an erasure of the past but an extension of it.
