The simple elegance of one of nature’s most graceful forms, the branch of a tree, is celebrated in, Branches, the joint exhibition of glass sculpture by renowned Japanese artist Hiroshi Yamano, and oil on canvas paintings by Pedro Surroca, opening August 8, with a reception for the two artists at LewAllen Galleries in the Santa Fe Railyard. Yamano blends multiple glass art techniques such as blowing, cutting, silver and copper plating, engraving and etching into zen-like sculptural still lifes comprised of branch, bird, flower and fish forms. Surroca uses sumptuous light, color and shadow combinations to render the unadorned branch as an iconic image of the peace and grace resident within nature in a group of striking, nearly minimalist, paintings.
Celebrated as one of the world's finest glass artists, Hiroshi Yamano is acclaimed for creating some of the most technically accomplished glass sculpture being produced today. In this exhibition, delicate and detailed glass representations of birds, fish, flowers, and branches extend from and interact with Yamano's latest vessels, vases, and other base forms to produce engaging and intriguing three-dimensional still-life scenes that draw from the artist’s roots in Japanese culture as wells as his studies in Western art. The artist unifies ancient traditions with cutting-edge techniques in glass blowing, sculpting, and polishing, combined with silver leaf engraving and copper plating, to produce a uniquely innovative, precise, and expressive art—one that transcends borders and explores enduring themes of universal experience, personal and national cultural identity, harmony, and beauty, through portrayals of nature.
Hiroshi Yamano was born in Fukuoka, Japan, in 1956 and received his earliest glass training at the California College of Arts and Crafts and then returned to Japan to attend the newly inaugurated Tokyo Glass Art Institute. He later earned his MFA at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Yamano has exhibited his art and been a teacher and lecturer in glass art programs internationally. His work is in the permanent collections of the Corning Glass Museum in New York, the Wheaton Glass Museum in New Jersey, the Chrysler Museum in Virginia, the Grand Crystal Gallery in Taiwan, and others. Yamano currently lives and works in Japan.
Painting in oil on linen, Pedro Surroca explores the beauty of the natural world through the depiction of unadorned branches and twigs, appointing these seemingly simple appendages as his subject of study and appreciation. Surroca presents intense, up-close perspectives of these empty boughs in sumptuous light, using rich shadows and color to render their quiet elegance and unique features, revering their unassuming loveliness and natural imperfections — knobs, thorns, and wizened arms. Shadows, though delicate, appear longing behind the branches in these neutral and calming spaces, while the sprigs are illuminated in the foreground. Through his composition and representation, the branches become icon-like, symbolizing the peace and grace resident in nature.
Whether in landscapes or these striking, nearly minimalist pieces, Surroca produces works that display an emotionally-laden and inspiring respect for the ineffable beauty of the natural world.
Pedro Surroca was born in Kingston, Canada, but was raised in Colombia until age 14. He received a BA in Painting and Printmaking from Gonzaga University in 1985 and an MFA in Painting and Printmaking from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY in 1988. Surroca lived and worked in San Francisco for 26 years and has been shown in numerous exhibitions throughout the Bay Area, New York, and the Southwest. He now resides in New Mexico.
