Ascending, along with Serpent and Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis, are from artist Robert Pulley’s large body of work combining references to geology, organic growth, and the human figure in abstract, expressionistic sculptures inspired by nature. Their segmentation, the striation that comes from coil building, and the picked textures create a sense of age and loss that contrasts to their strength and energy.

Robert Pulley is a clay sculptor based in Columbus, Indiana. According to the artist, “I grew up in the American Midwest where frequent solitary walks in the woods and along the creeks and rivers of rural Indiana etched strong impressions into my memory of the varied forms, colors and textures around me. Evidence of the effects of time were everywhere in the rock strata, glacial till, and aboriginal artifacts. I found a sense of wonder that embraced mysteries of nature, of change and of time…In my creative process there is always a time of free improvisation using easily manipulated materials on a small scale. The materials may have qualities of a found object, chance forms that must be reacted to, much as a jazz musician riffs off a casual theme. The resulting models are very crude, casual and many. A chosen few undergo editing, refinement and transformation as they are built into full size sculptures.”