Invited artist:Durant Thompson
Against the Grain
Norfolk Island Pine
12” x !2” x 2”
Price: NFS
In the fall of 2013, I was granted my first sabbatical from the University of Mississippi. As I was recovering from a back injury, I was limited in physically being able to make the heavy sculptures that I usually made. I instead accepted an invitation to learn the woodturning process in my uncle’s shop in Juno, Florida. For a month, I learned the basic techniques of the trade and in turn taught my uncle to think more “artistically” about how he conceived and designed his works. Our fall workshop together that year really went well and I continued to visit and work in his shop several times a year to trade ideas and techniques with him. I made well over a hundred pieces working with my Uncle Bill.
Against the Grain is just one of those pieces that I made while working with him. “Against the grain” refers to a style of woodturning while also reflecting a metaphor for both mine and my uncle’s personalities. Within the piece, one can see the craftsmanship of the process learned and the “artistic” aesthetic of the pattern chosen in the wood. This piece also records the time spent together and conversations that were had while working with my uncle. In 2022, my Uncle Bill passed away at 88 and I inherited his shop as well as all its contents at his wishes. While I was not able to keep the facility in Juno, I was able to move all the equipment to my own space where I hope to continue woodturning with the knowledge and tools he passed on to me.
Durant Thompson is a Professor of Sculpture in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Mississippi. He is originally from Connecticut, but grew up mostly in Knoxville, Tennessee. In 1997, he received a BFA in Sculpture from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and in 2001 he earned an MFA in Sculpture from Louisiana State University.
Durant has been actively showing at exhibitions nationally and internationally over the past three decades. His exhibitions resume includes The Seventeenth Rosen Outdoor Sculpture Competition and Exhibition at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, Art In Public Places Knoxville Exhibition and Competition, Sculpture Salmagundi XV and XVI at the Imperial Arts Center, Rocky Mount, NC, the Charles Hook Sculpture Garden Competition in Tallahassee, FL and The National Ornamental Metals Museum in Memphis, TN. Durant also received a Mississippi Arts Commission Fellowship through the National Endowment for the Arts in 2011.
General Artist’s Statement
I have traditionally drawn my inspiration from objects and forms created during the Industrial Revolution. The designs of railroad equipment, snowplows and steam powered machinery are continually swimming in my head influencing the designs of the sculptures I make. This imagery combined with childhood memories and experiences have fueled the creation of my work for most of my artistic career. Inspired by the inherent designs of found objects, I cast, fabricate, and assemble all the different elements into a new design so that the components can be viewed from a fresh perspective.
Each sculpture references a concept that is abstracted through sketches while looking at piles of found objects throughout the landscape. The historical significance of each found object must remain when creating, but also not individually dominate the work overall. The wheel or the circle are integral elements and are reoccurring personal symbols in my work. Recently, I have been woodturning and these finished elements have been integrated into the assemblages or shown individually on their own.
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