Known for his wooden sculptures, New Orleans-born John Geldersma has cited his early immersion in the intersection of such divergent cultures as French, Spanish, African-American, Caribbean, Anglo-Saxon and Native American as a major influence on his art.

Geldersma earned a BFA from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (then University of Southwestern Louisiana) and a MFA from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Working primarily in wood, he has produced a wide array of pieces in archetypal forms, from his hanging Shamans to mandala-like totemic sculpture termed Spirit Poles that are inspired by primitive fetishes, various trans-historic ritualistic geometric designs and the vibrant cultural milieu of his native southwestern Louisiana.

Geldersma divides his time between his native Louisiana and Colorado.