ARTIST STATEMENT
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Artist Statement -



A friend told me recently that it was helpul for her to know how an art work is created and how the artist thinks. That led me to consider what I have to say about my art work. When one looks at my sculpture I hope one sees strength, mystery, sensuousness, spiritual energy and more. How these constructions in modeled clay can stir such responsed in myself and others is a mystery to me, but I can say something about my methods and way of thinking.

I have always been intuitive, reactive and spontaneous. I love improvisation, expression and the power of chance and serendipity. This may not seem obvious in large pieces that must be carefully crafted over weeks or months. Here is how it works. When I began the first pieces in this body of work many years ago they were purely improvisational. I would begin each piece with a flat slab of clay that I cut into a shape that would be the bottom of the sculpture. I usually had a vague idea of the proportions I wanted. This general notion set the theme within which I worked. In the manner of free jazz I would consider the form I had and mentally project what the possibilities might be for structure, expression and coherence. I worked on 4-6 pieces at a time adding a fat coil per day which I pinched into a 3"-4" section. When the sculptures were leather hard they were scraped to refine profiles and edges and to provide textural contrast. The building always progressed from bottom to top with the hardening clay giving no opportunity for revision or restructuring.

Eventually I discovered that preplanning sculptures would lead to new forms. Much of the sponteneity was in the planning phase. I first did thumbnail sketches followed by small modeled clay maquettes, followed by maquettes carved from stiff little blocks of clay, followed by my current favorite, maquettes carved from pieces hammered from big, thick irregular chunks of nearly dry clay. In all cases quick brainstorming activity leads to hundreds of sketches that are culled for the rare idea that deserves to grow into a sculpture. Of the sculptures begun nearly half are rejected and destroyed before they are completed.

Sculpture is a connection between the heart and mind of one creator to the heart and mind of others by way of the eye and the hand. I create in clay because it suits me. It is a humble, common, formless substance that freezes the energy of shaping forces and is transformed by the energy of fire. Through clay I search for my place in a vast, mysterious, interconnected and sacred nature displayed in forms of plant, animal, geologic and unnameable spirit.

Artist Exhibitions



Partial List of Exhibitions:-------------
2015
"Inaugural Sculpture Walk: Peoria". Peoria, IL
"20th Annual Sculpture in the Garden Invitational". Hillsborough, NC
"New Work". Heike Pickett Gallery, Versailles, KY

2014
"82nd Annual Exhibition" Indiana Artists Club, IMA Indianapolis, IN
"19th Annual Sculpture in the Garden Invitational" Hillsborough, NC
"7th Annual Garden Sculpture Show" Louisville, KY
"Finale" Jacksson Contemporary Art Gallery. Columbus, IN
"One Person Show" Ft Wayne Museum of Art, Ft. Wayne, IN
"Western Michigan Sculpture Tour" Kalamazoo, MI
"Group Show" Eno Gallery, Hillsborough, NC

2013
"81st Annual Exhibition" Indiana Artist Club, IMA Indianapolis, IN
"Forage Feast With Guests", Jacksson Contemporary Art Gallery, Columbus, IN
"2013 Oak Park Sculpture Walk" Oak Park, IL
"6th Annual Garden Sculpture Show" Yew Dell Gardens, Louisville, KY
"2013 Sculpture on the Green Biennial Invitational" Cashiers, NC
"18th Annual Sculpture in the Garden Invitational" Hillsborough, NC

2012
"Standing in Time's Flow", The Weston Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
"27th Annual Sculpture Celebration", Lenoir, NC
"Form, Flora", Chicago, IL
"New Work", Heike Pickett Gallery, Versailles, KY
"MSA Outdoor Exhibition", Chattanooga, TN
"Art in Public Places", Knoxville, TN
"Layered Abstractions", AEC Gallery, Covington, KY
"Grand Opening", Jacksson Gallery, Columbus, IN
"Sculpture in the Park", White River State Park, Indianapolis, IN

2011
"26th Annual Sculpture Celebration", Lenoir, NC. 4th Place Cash Award
"Bronze and Stone", ARTBox Gallery, Indianapolis, IN
"Sculpture Walk V", Kingsport, TN
"Invitational 2011" Heike Pickett Gallery, Versailles, KY

2010
"New Work", Heike Pickett Gallery, Versailles, KY
"Process", ARTBox Gallery, Indianapolis, IN
"Art In Public Places", Knoxville, TN
"Sculpture in the Park", Loveland, CO

2009
"New Work", Heike Pickett Gallery, Versailles, KY
"MSA Outdoor Exhibit", Chattanooga, TN

2008
"New Work", Heike Pickett Gallery, Versailles, KY
"Blue Prints: Pattern of Human Activity", Funke Fired Arts, and Cincinnati, OH
"Chicago Sculpture International Biennale", Flatfile Galleries, Chicago, IL
"Word of Mouth", Ohio University Art Gallery, Athens, OH

2007
"Indiana Flower and Patio Show", Indianapolis, IN
"Group Show", Columbus Learning Center, Columbus, IN

2006
"Invitational 2006", Heike Pickett Gallery, Versailles, KY
"Columbus Sculpture Invitational", Columbus, IN
"Emergence", Gallery 423, Columbus, IN

2005
"Working the Soil", ART Columbus, Columbus, IN
"Invitational 2005", Heike Pickett Gallery, Versailles, KY

2004
"X in Clay", Ruschman Art Gallery, Indianapolis, IN
"Three Person Show", John Waldron Arts Center, Bloomington, IN
"Alumni Show", Dept. of Art Atrium Gallery, Ball State U., Muncie, IN
"Hoosier Hands: Contemporary Indiana Ceramics", Richmond Art Museum, Richmond, IN

2003
"New Perspectives", Function+ Art, Chicago, IL.
"Three Person Show", Dept. of Art Atrium Gallery, Ball State U.,
Muncie, IN.

2002
"One Person Show", Heike Pickett Gallery, Versailles, KY.
"Of and About Clay VI", Galerie Hertz; Louisville, KY.

2001
"New Works" , Ruschman Gallery; Indianapolis, IN.
"15th Rosen Outdoor Sculpture Competition; Appalacian State U.;
Boone, N.C.
"Group Show"", 1911 Gallery, Ft. Wayne, IN.

2000
"Of and About Clay V", Galerie Hertz; Louisville, KY.

1999
"The Object of Sculpture", Wright State University; Dayton,OH. (Purchase Award)
"Sculpture in the Park", White River State Park; Indianapolis, IN

1998
"One Person Show", Northern Indiana Arts Association; Munster, IN

1997
"Forms in Space- Ceramic Sculpture", Emison Art Center; Depauw University, Greencastle, IN

1996
"Guides and Witnesses", The Gallery;
Bloomington, IN
"Sculptural Concerns", Richmond Art Museum; Richmond, IN
"Midwest Sculpture Exhibition", South Bend Regional Museum of Art; South Bend, IN

1995
"Views From the Center", Dayton Visual Arts Center; Dayton, OH
"Sculpture Show", Ruschman Art Gallery; Indianapolis, IN



...

Artist Publications



From Sunday, February 24,2002
Louisville Courier-Journal
Galerie Hertz, "Of and About Clay"

....The headliner is work that should be familiar to Louisville gallery-goers, notably the huge, technically astounding "rocks" created in hollow, free-formed stoneware by Robert Pulley, whose studio is near Columbus, Ind. Columns and massed combinations of roughly shaped forms are glazed in typcal stoneware fashion in browns and buffs, but the result is anything but tableware.

Each work is about as large as a person or two. Each is individual, abstract and strongly evocative, suggesting sacred cairns.

The subtle draw of the "rocks" can't compare to the novelty of the eye-catching trompe l'oeil baseball mitt in clay by Richard Newman of San Diego. However, the metitative spirit of Pulley's great hunks of seemingly self-formed clay soars over the top of the baseball mitt visual ploy....

Artist Collections



Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio, USA
Canton Art Institute, Canton, Ohio, USA
Greater Lafayette Museum of Art, Lafayette, Indiana, USA
McDonalds Corporation, Oakbrook, Illinois, USA
Competitive Advantage Consultants, Tampa, Florida, USA
Mark Holeman Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Southern Indiana Cancer Center, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
S.A.I. Corporation, Indianapolis, Indina, USA
Monroe County Library, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
Sandy Besser, Santa Fe, NM, USA
Ron and Judy Isaacs, Richmond, Kentucky, USA
Rod Ashley, Marion, Indiana, USA
David and Char Cary, Glen Ellyn, Illinois, USA
Michael and Marsha Goldstein, Lake Forest, Illinois, USA
Elizabeth and Ron Deitz, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Richard Ford, Wabash, Indiana, USA
Clay Morton, Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Myron and Cecille Shure, Highland Park, Illinois, USA
Monika and Robert Mentzer, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Kristel DeHaan, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Kaiser Permanente, San Diego, CA, USA
Walter and Werlinde Hauk, Lincolnshire, Illinois, USA
Bill and Winnie Freeman, Carefree, Arizona, USA
Milt and Sharon Rosenberg, Winfield, Illinois, USA...

Artist Favorites