It is the collecting, one assumes, that comprises the very foundation of his enterprise.
Every material is rustic.
Each block of weathered wood, each rusted nail, each bleached bone, and each smashed penny brings the weight of its entire history to the pieces in this exhibit. In their architectural composition and enigmatic assemblage of found objects they resemble Joseph Cornell's box constructions of the 1940's and 50's. But while Cornell's minute detailing invites passage into enclosed fantasies, Calisch's Altars are more brutal, even menacing at times. This theme of human sacrifice, ensconced in the motif of burning, appears again in what is perhaps the most literally rendered of Calisch's pieces, Fire Tower Youth or Rite of Passage. Christian symbolism abounds in the posture of this delicately carved pre-pubescent male figure.