Wi Taepa

Tangaroa, ceramic vessel paua shell inlay, contemporary Maori artist Wi Taepa

2001

Las Tres Cabezas, bronze sculpture Eduardo Oropeza brown Three heads Four legs Bronze and straw Sculptor, painter, printmaker, & photographer, Eduardo Oropeza remains a commanding presence in contemporary art. He applied a high level of devotion and integrity to his artwork. After the many years he had been working at his chosen profession, he saw being an artist as a tremendous gift, which honored and humbled him. A native of California's San Joaquin Valley and long time resident of East Los Angeles, Oropeza's academic training began with the study of Sociology. After taking an art course, he ultimately changed majors and received a Master of Fine Arts degree in sculpture from San Jose State. Postgraduate work followed at San Jose, San Diego State at Long Beach, and Palomar College. Oropeza’s contribution to public art in Los Angeles can be seen in a ceramic mosaic covering the 2 story Self Help Graphics Workshop building located at Ceasar Chavez and Gage streets in East Los Angeles. Oropeza donated his time and artistic talent to complete this multi-year project. The second phase of this project was the creation of a Virgin of Guadalupe shrine, shown here, for the community. Selected collections: Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Hispanic Research Center, Arizona State University, City of Sacramento, California, Mary Tyler Moore...

Waita - Song, Contemporary Maori Sculpture, Aotearoa, facial moko, tattoo, male

Midnight Blue, a ceramic relief sculpture of high-fired porcelain pigmented with oxides, paint and epoxy, is a recent work by New York artist Harold Wortsman. This sculpture is ready to be mounted to the wall. Note the artist's hand in the mark-making – cuts and radiating lines, the suggestion of maps, geometry and counting systems – it is characteristic of Wortsman's practice. Warm, contemporary, uniquely crafted, yet speaks to ancient, tribal traditions of art-making that cross cultures and histories. Highly attuned to the art of Africa, the Middle East, India and Asia, his forms are organic abstracts with masculine and feminine attributes that resonate together as a pleasing enigma. They make sense immediately, yet never give up all their secrets. Midnight Blue was recently exhibited at Harold Wortsman: Time and Space, Orange Art Foundation, New York City, February 2022. From Harold Wortsman – "With sculpture, my material of choice is high-fired clay. Pieces are first low-fired in an electric kiln. I do not use glazes. Instead, I use oxides applied to the bisqued (low-fired) clay. As with a tattoo, oxides permit the surface underneath to breathe—like naked skin. The work is then high-fired in a gas kiln with double reduction to cone 10. The final temperature is 2,300 degrees F. At a certain point, oxygen intake is reduced to the kiln. Because the fire has reached a critical mass, it needs oxygen and chemically takes it from the clay and the oxides painted on. Like a jazz improvisation, each kiln load comes out slightly different." From Jonathan Goodman – "Wortsman has increasingly moved into his own – a place in which the relations between the abstractions of volume and the intimations of very old culture are merged in a way that is new." – Essay, "Harold Wortsman: Time and Space", Orange Art Foundation, February 2022, New York City. Harold Wortsman is a sculptor and printmaker based in Brooklyn, NY. He “creates forms that bring to mind archaic cult objects and exude a quiet concentrated strength.” (Argauer Zeitung, Switzerland). His work, an edgy mix of freedom and clarity, can be found in public and private collections in the US, including The Library of Congress, Yale University, The New York Public Library Print Collection, The New York Historical Society, Smith College, Indiana University’s Lilly Library, Brandeis University, The Newark Public Library Special Collections Division, and the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum Print Archive. Also in private and public collections in Europe, including the Municipal Collection of the City of Brugg, Switzerland. Harold studied at the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture, with sculptor George Spaventa...

As an artist, I am a storyteller wielding visual art as my medium. My creative journey is fueled by a relentless thirst for knowledge acquired through both hands-on experience and ke...