In Colorado, Sculptor James Surls Connects with Nature via Raw Materials to Create Vast Wooden Forms

Why It Matters

Surls’ journey shows how resourcefulness and strategic partnerships enable artists to realize monumental works despite financial and physical constraints, shaping market dynamics and inspiring emerging sculptors.

Key Takeaways

• Surls transforms massive logs into monumental wooden sculptures.
• He relies on chance encounters to source raw materials.
• Physical limits push him to collaborate with specialist chainsaw artists.
• Financial instability drives his “high‑speed wobble” lifestyle and risk‑taking.
• His work resides in major museums, influencing contemporary sculpture.

Summary

The video profiles James Surls, a Colorado‑based sculptor famed for turning colossal, raw logs into towering wooden installations. It follows his latest project—a 36,000‑pound log he rescued from a field—highlighting his reliance on serendipitous material finds and his determination to create despite age‑related physical limits. Surls describes his creative process as a perpetual gamble, calling it a “high‑speed wobble” that forces him to juggle finances, health, and artistic ambition. He recounts the moment his son‑in‑law spotted the log, the urgency of seizing the opportunity before a commission might never arrive, and the logistical challenge of enlisting an Oregon‑born chainsaw expert named Aaron to shape the massive timber. Key moments include Surls’ candid admission that his family bears the financial strain, his belief that every piece has a destined location, and his reflection that balance—both literal and metaphorical—is elusive. He also references his inclusion in the Smithsonian, Guggenheim, and MoMA collections, underscoring his stature in the contemporary art world. The story illustrates how raw material discovery, physical collaboration, and relentless optimism can propel an artist to produce works that command institutional attention, while also exposing the precarious economics that underlie large‑scale sculpture.

Original Description

Known for his monumental sculptures, hewn from native woods and steel, American modernist sculptor James Surls has rooted his artistic practice in the majesty of nature, becoming a pivotal figure in the Texas art scene with work in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the New York Guggenheim, and MoMA, among others. Now age 83, and working from a 4000 square foot studio in Carbondale, Colorado, Surls creates in close collaboration with the vast landscapes of the Rocky Mountains and the American Southwest – as a source of inspiration, spiritual connection, and the natural materials that play an instrumental role in his art.

For the short film Will of the Wisp, director Garrett Creamer meets Surls in Aspen, following his acquisition of a massive log discovered in a field, and the meteoric task of transporting the wood to his studio. Observing the ambition and sense of scale that animates his powerful organic forms, Surls reflects on his philosophy on life, the physicality of his art, and finding balance amid health concerns, adjusting his perspective into old age with the belief that everything eventually finds its right place... read now at nowness.com

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