January 14 – April 30, 2004
Reception: January 14, 5 – 8pm

Presented by the Oakland Museum of California Professional Services division
Professional Services Exhibition Archive

Sam Perry, Untitled, 2001, Madrone

The Oakland Museum of California is pleased to present Sam Perry: Ingrained at the Oakland Museum of California Sculpture Court. Ingrained features 15 medium-to-large-scale sculptures each carved from various types of wood, including madrone, oak, bay laurel and redwood.

A practicing artist for over 20 years, Sam Perry began his career working in large-scale, abstract ceramics. He later switched to sculpting in wood in an effort to discover a fresh vocabulary for his work. As a conservator at Runnymede Sculpture Farm in Woodside, California, Perry gained access to large pieces of lumber either felled or cut down for environmental reasons. This opportunity became the source that would lead him to new forms.

Wood remains his preferred medium not only because of its availability, but also because it provides a starting point for his abstraction. By working with once-living objects that have a history, Perry is able to link the past with the present. As he strips the bark and carves the wood, he is fascinated by its deeper personality as revealed through surface and grain.

In selecting the timber for his sculptures, Perry is drawn to shapes predetermined by nature. The found character and gestural qualities of his discoveries inform his abstractions, enabling Perry to resolve the formal issues that challenge him – form, composition, surface, movement, mass and scale.

Born in Kailua, Hawaii, Perry currently lives and works in Oakland. He earned a B.A. and M.F.A. from the California College of the Arts in Oakland, where he studied with Viola Frey and Dennis Leon. He has exhibited at the Contemporary Art Center, Honolulu, Hawaii; Ceramic Biennale, Savona Italy; the 48th Scripps College Ceramic Annual, Claremont, California; and other venues. His work is held in the collections of the di Rosa Preserve, Napa, California; Runnymede Sculpture Farm, Woodside, California; and several private collections.

Organized by the Professional Services division of the Oakland Museum of California.