Branching Out Artist Interview: Joel Urruty
Image credit: Reverie. 2018. Dyed mahogany and cast concrete base.
Joel Urruty is one of the exhibiting artists in BRAHM's exhibition, Branching Out: Works in Wood from North Carolina.
Joel Urruty was born in San Francisco, CA in 1968, the son of Basque immigrants. His studio is in Hickory, NC. He earned a Bachelor of Science in industrial technology at San Francisco State University. He apprenticed as a furniture maker under David J. Marks, Master Craftsman, and later went on to earn a Masters of Fine Art in Woodworking and Furniture Design from School of American Crafts at Rochester Institute of Technology.
Joel describes his process as, "I strive to create elegant sculptures that capture the true essence of the subject matter. Form, line, and surface are used as the visual language. The figure is abstracted to a minimalist form, void of any superfluous information. The primary material, wood, is often masked by paint to allow the form to take precedence over the material. Monochromatic colors, such as, black or white are often used on the sculptures, allowing light and shadow to play off subtle shifting facets."
Learn more about Joel by visiting his website:
https://joelurruty.com/