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J A M E S  F U H R M A N

To celebrate the 60 years spent on this planet, I have made 60 new works --more than 45 sculptures and more than 15 works on paper. They include a large work in Scotland, a new house design as well as a new set of images, each one building on the previous one. They have been shown in a one-person exhibition 60 Quests at Miami-Dade College (2005). The sculptures include dolmen forms and Zen gardens. Click on the 60 to open that part of the site
         James Fuhrman, 23 February 2005

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60 Quests

A Timeless Place
First British International Wood Sculpture Symposium, Blair Athol Castle, Scotland
6.6 x 23 x 6.6'
2003
This site shows selections of my sculpture, public art and drawings from the early 1970s to the present. It is best viewed at a screen resolution of 1024x768  Please use the Navigation Bar above to open the site to any page or read down and click on any image or caption to open additional pages.


As my sense of self in the world has changed, so has my work. It has evolved from images of a single figure standing in the landscape to images of more quiet, contemplative forms evoking a sense of 'holding'. This evolution has also included finding a voice for my deep concern about contemporary social and political issues.
Hiroshima Ghosts
In the area of public art and architectural work, I have extended the sensibility of 'embracing' --'holding', to a consideration of the specific setting of the sculpture installation itself. While maintaining the importance of the shape, form and materials, the design of the sculptures has come to include the very nature of the site itself.
Questions that have become vital in the design process are: 'Who will use it?' 'Why are they there?' 'How will they interact with it?' What experience will they have in it?'
For each of these works I have considered and created pieces that attempt to speak to the issues confronting the users:
     • For a medical center, a sense of acceptance and embracing and a message of Healing.
In Healing Mind and Body Enfold One Another
Entryway
     • For a police forensic building, Illusion and Perception and the Real.
Illusion, Perception and the Real
     • For a community police headquarters, the sense of Unity, of community involvement, and Building Blocks.

     • For a memorial for the Desaparecidos in Argentina, a sense of rending loss combined with a joining together --inclusion of others.
     • For our house addition, a sense of openness and generosity and a connection to the outside and the land.
Denney/Fuhrman Residence Addition, 1998
The change in my work, from an academic exploration of shapes, lines and materials, to a more expressive, personal work, began with taking classes in the Martha Graham dance technique from 1979 to 1983. This study of dance led to a series of calligraphic drawings
--the intensityof the movement in the class seemed to flow spontaneously and automatically from the calligraphic brush into forms across the paper. I spent one concentrated drawing period observing and drawing the Graham company classes in New York.
The set of dance drawings became the basis for many subsequent
sculptures and installations. They, in turn,generated additional ideas such as those seen in the variety of bench forms.The calligraphic nature of the Graham technique drawings led me to study and work with the Japanese zen enso circle form, that connotes completion, fullness and inclusion.
A different or new work will be shown in great detail every 6-8 weeks. The piece's conceptual and design aspects will be discussed extensively.
The Memorial for the Desaparecidos in Buenos Aires is the first of these. This is one of a number of works that I have created that commemorate or address issues of contemporary life.

Communion Benches, Memorial for Desaparecidos
 Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Larger format, higher resolution images, slides or copies of print material are available on request.

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I would like to thank John Green for his assistance in creating this site.