Sculpture and Assemblage

History

Paul’s sculptures and assemblages reflect his inclination to explore, and this experimentation resulted in a large variety of 3-dimensional pieces. As a progression from his collages which often incorporated sand, string and pieces of cork, he moved into using clay and other mediums to create sculptural works.

Light Figure #6, 1983, fired clay and wood, 7 x 3 x 3 inches, SC-70.10-RB

Lithic #36, 1984, fired clay, 2 x 5 x 6 inches, SC-70.172-RB

Inspired by his decades-long study of physics and astronomy, Paul’s ceramic sculptures include realistic asteroids, starfields and small monolithic stellae. These works are inscribed with dots, dashes, and lines, manifesting his own textural language. In 1984 a number of his asteroids were showcased in a San Francisco Tiffany & Co store window.

Using clay, he also produced a series of wall-mounted creatures that elicit a sense of movement and play. Painted orange, they appear to be made of molten rock, pinched and pulled to create loosely-rendered gestural forms that seem to be kicking, fighting, and dancing.

Kicking Creature #1, 1985, fired clay, fluorescent spray-paint and acrylics, 11 1/2 x 4 13/16 x 4 7/8 inches, SC-70.320

Asteroid Spaceship #3, 1986, mixed media, 9 3/4 x 14 x 22 inches, R&A-112.3

Reflecting the exciting influence of the groundbreaking Hubble Space Telescope discoveries and following his interest in space exploration and the cosmos, Paul continued to explore the plastic arts using other materials. He fabricated three-dimensional assemblages for imagined intergalactic travel and communication, making spaceships, spaceports and rockets out of mediums such as star maps, glass, paper mache, wooden dowels, and spray paint.

Adding to his diverse repertoire is a series of wooden sculptures made of black walnut and metal type pieces. Simple in their representation, these forms illustrate his interest in positive and negative space via his placement of the metal type on the wood.

Structure #19, 1980, 3 1/2 x 2 1/4 x 2 inches, OB-49.19-RB

Many Phased Moon #2, 1988, 12 x 12 x 3 inches, CON-93.74-RB

As a progression from his career-long interest in collage, he also created a series of assemblages that are more architectural in their visual impact. These wall-hanging pieces are high-relief, employing acrylic pipe, dowels, wooden blocks, and paint, and reflect his interest in abstraction.