A show worth turning up for
Fans of wood art should be sure to turn out for the latest exhibit presented by the Oregon Coast Council for the Arts, “A Segment of Art,” running through Saturday, March 20, in the Coastal Oregon Visual Artists Showcase at the Newport Visual Arts Center.
Award-winning Brookings-based wood sculpture artist Dan Gray’s turned wood artworks, which he describes as “segmented sculptures,” have won multiple awards and been displayed in numerous galleries on the West Coast. Many of his sculptures are inspired by his proximity to the Pacific Ocean, as well as his love of travel. One of his signature pieces, “Nautilus, Station 5,” was featured in Wood Magazine. Gray’s wood sculptures have been described as amazing in their intricate detail. Working with oak, alder, mahogany, purple heart, myrtle and other woods, his sculptures contain anywhere from several hundred to several thousand individual pieces.
Gray is a proudly self-proclaimed self-taught artist.
“In truth, I never knew I was an artist until late in my life,” he said. “That fact that I was always creating, I simply took for granted as part of who I was. My creativity was out of necessity. To repair something that was broken. To build something needed.”
Though Gray has always worked with wood, he did not always realize wood as an art medium. Fifteen years ago, on a whim, he purchased a wood lathe.
“From that first moment, when I turned a small piece of wood into a bowl, I was lost,” he said. “Nothing has ever captured me before in the way of that first small bowl.”
Gray has displayed his art in galleries in Brookings and Vancouver, Washington, and is currently displaying in galleries in Utah and Arizona. In addition to creating his segmented wood sculptures, he has published two novels and a collection of short stories.
The exhibit runs through March 20 in the in the Coastal Oregon Visual Artists Showcase at the Newport Visual Arts Center, 777 NW Beach Drive. Viewing hours are from noon to 4 pm Wednesdays and Saturdays, COVID-19 safety guidelines permitting, as well as online at www.coastarts.org. To sign up for event notifications, go to coastarts.org/visual-arts-center/newsletter.