Morgan Herrin is an artist with
an extensive background in wood crafting and carpentry that unites a deep
understanding and appreciation of the properties and materiality of wood with a
fascination for the human form. His works have utilized wood to mimic materials
ranging from the hard surfaces of iron, copper, and bronze, to the more
delicate and fragile organic shapes found in nature, from plant and moss forms
to bone and skin.
detail of Oetzi
In this new exhibition of his work, he takes as his subject the
remains of the Ice Man (or “Oetzi” as scientists named him), the mummified 5,300-year-old
man that was discovered in 1991 in the Eastern Alps near the border between Austria
and Italy startlingly well preserved in the ice, as if thousands of years had
not passed. The
sculpture, in a similarly vivid fashion, is an astonishing, frighteningly
lifelike image of our ancestral past captured in an almost dancing gesture, as
if frozen in time for all of eternity to witness.
Previous to "Oetzi", Herrin's work referenced classical
sculpture, using as his primary medium standardized dimensional lumber—planed
wood with a smooth finish prepared primarily for commercial construction purposes.
His newest work utilizes found, aged lumber, which allows for a rougher,
weathered appearance and the qualities of a grittier realism, aligning perfectly
with his current subject matter.
Copper Gate
Herrin earned a BFA from
Virginia Commonwealth University in 2002 and an MFA in Sculpture in 2005 from
Ohio State University in Columbus OH. His work has been exhibited widely in solo and group
shows in the United States and in art fairs such as SCOPE New York. Herrin
lives and works in Richmond, VA, and currently serves as an Adjunct Professor
at the Virginia Commonwealth University.
see more of Morgan Herrin's work here at ADAGALLERY.COM
for information john@adagallery.com