Irwin Luckman

Completed in 2003, “Suhrra” by Irwin Luckman was as technically challenging as it is beautiful. This piece is made of fired ceramic finished with water-resistant acrylic. It is composed of six units, small enough to fit inside the available kiln, and light enough to be handled when moist. The units are pegged and fastened to each other, and mounted on a white base. Artist Irwin Luckman spent a year manifesting his vision, and the result is on display at the plaza, downtown Cloverdale, until October 1st.

Luckman told us that, as with most of his sculpture, “the focus of this piece is on the voids – their interaction with each other, their see-through overlapping, and their contrasts of scale.  The abstract forms, both negative and positive, are intended to be aesthetically stimulating without representing recognizable shapes”. 

Although “Suhrra” is conventional in scale, many of Luckman’s pieces are models of monumental sculpture, which call upon the viewer’s ability to imagine walking through and around the complex shapes. These pieces are intended to capture the aesthetic impact of grand architectural spaces, but without the restraints imposed by practical functional requirements. Proportionately sized human figures placed within them suggest the immense scale of the spaces which are envisioned.

In 1999, at age 77, after not handling clay for 60 years, Luckman decided to try sculpture again. Now in 2008, at age 86, he is still producing fine ceramic sculpture. His work has been exhibited extensively in Northern California since he returned to sculpture in 1999.