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I STUDIED ART AND ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AT WOODBURY COLLEGE IN HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA AND AT THE UNIVERSITY OF OREGON IN EUGENE, IN PREPARATION FOR A CAREER IN ARCHITECTURE. MY ART CAREER BEGAN IN ERNEST IN THE LATE 'SIXTIES' WITH OIL PAINTING, WHICH TRANSFIGURED INTO THE DESIGN AND APPLICATION OF SUPER-GRAPHICS AND MURAL PAINTINGS ON BUILDINGS, MOST OF WHICH WERE IN PORTLAND, OREGON. WORKING EXTENSIVELY WITH ARCHITECTS AND OTHER DESIGNERS, I REGAINED INTEREST IN ARCHITECTURE AND BUILDING AND BECAME A GENERAL CONTRACTOR. THIS EXPERIENCE PROVIDED KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERTISE IN THE USE OF CONCRETE WHICH EVENTUALLY METAMORPHOSED INTO FINE ART SCULPTURE IN METAL-INFUSED CONCRETE.
I HAVE HAD SOLO EXHIBITIONS OF FINE ART PAINTINGS IN A NUMBER OF GALLERIES. A FEW OF WHICH ARE: THE GOLDEN LEGEND GALLERY IN LAKE OSWEGO, OREGON, THE COURTYARD GALLERY IN PORTLAND, OREGON, AND THE COAST GALLERY IN BIG SUR, CALIFORNIA.
MY SCULPTURE WORK HAS BEEN SHOWN IN THE NOICE GALLERY IN KALISPELL, MONTANA, THE THREE RIVERS GALLERY IN MISSOULA, MONTANA, THE OFF-MARKET THEATRE GALLERY, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, THE SFMOMA ARTIST GALLERY, SAN FRANCISCO, THE CECILE MOOCHNEK GALLERY, BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA AND THE MOWEN-SOLINKSY GALLERY, NEVADA CITY, CALIFORNIA.
OVER THREE DECADES, I HAVE DEVELOPED MANY TYPES OF CONCRETE MIXES, EACH WITH IT'S OWN SPECIAL PURPOSE, AS EACH PROJECT WILL HAVE DIFFERENT REQUIREMENTS. I HAVE ALSO EXPERIMENTED EXTENSIVELY WITH COMBINATIONS OF TEXTURES BY EMPLOYING A WIDE VARIETY OF CASTING METHODS, HAND SCULPTING, GRINDING AND POLISHING TECHNIQUES. CONCRETE HAS THE POTENTIAL OF INTEGRATING, OR HOSTING MANY OTHER MATERIALS. I HAVE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF THIS CHARACTERISTIC AND FOUND THAT WHAT IS COMBINED WITH THE CEMENT CAN BE AS REMARKABLE AS ANY EXTERNAL FEATURE OF THE PIECE. FUNTIONALITY TOO, IS A LARGE CONSIDERATION IN MY WORK AND I HAVE OFTEN CONFIGURED FUNCTION INTO THE PIECES I HAVE CREATED. IT HAS BEEN, HOWEVER, MORE IMPORTANT TO ME THAT THE WORK STAND ALONE WITH A STRICTLY VISUAL IMPACT TO A GIVEN SPACE, WHETHER ITS PRACTICAL FUNCTIONS ARE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF OR NOT.
FOR MANY YEARS, I HAVE BEEN GREATLY INFLUENCED WITH THE STUDY OF WABI SABI, WHICH IS A JAPANESE PHILOSOPHY OF THE BEAUTY IN THE INTEGRATION AND DISINTEGRATION OF THINGS AND PLACES. I HAVE BEEN IMPRESSED THAT NOTHING IS STATIC AND THAT ALL THINGS ARE IN A STATE OF TRANSITION FROM BEGINNINGS TO ENDINGS. THERE IS CEREMONY IN THIS PROCESS, AND I AM AWARE THAT MY ART CAN PAY TRIBUTE TO THE IMAGES OF CHANGE.
ALL OF THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF MY WORK IS BY RICHARD SARGENT, FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHER, BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA. |
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