Receiving his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in sculpture from California State University at Fresno, Calaway was primarily influenced by performance and installation artist Terry Allen, an instructor there. In the late 1970s and 1980s he exhibited in New York and internationally, and his work was included in Documenta 7 in Kassel, Germany, in 1982.

Made of wood, brass, and green baize, Calaway’s sculptures resemble pieces of furniture, though they are too slight to function as the desks, cabinets, and tables that they reference. Calaway does not title his works, but produces schematic line drawings, sometimes etched in brass, that serve as titles.