James Sterling Pitt’s sculptures are intimate in scale, and varied in texture and color. Where one surface is clearly legible as layered and cut plywood, other surfaces are coarse, pocked, and stonelike. Through their material ambiguity and selectively exaggerated color, each sculpture embodies multiple gestures; even the most austere forms allow for intimacy and tenderness, while the playful and illustrative forms maintain a sense of gravity.

The works evoke organic materials that have been petrified or fossilized, and geologic materials that have been shaped through accumulation and weathering. On close examination, the sculptures reflect the artist’s hand yet remain fluid and organic, suggesting that despite their handmade construction, each sculpture might be the result of complex phases of growth, erosion, or evolution. While drawing influence from memories, art historical influences, or any number of lived experiences, Pitt’s sculptures are ultimately constructed according to instinct.

James Sterling Pitt (b. Warwick, NY) lives and works in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Recent solo exhibitions have been hosted by Ratio 3 (San Francisco, CA), Et. Al. (San Francisco, CA), Texas State University (San Marcos, TX), and Steven Zevitas Gallery (Boston, MA). Group exhibitions have been hosted by Berkeley Art Museum (Berkeley, CA), Slein Gallery (St. Louis, MO), Royal NoneSuch Gallery (San Francisco, CA), and Morgan Lehman Gallery (New York, NY). His work has been written about in ARTFORUM, The Boston Globe, The San Francisco Chronicle, and New American Paintings. His work is a part of numerous collections, including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, and Blanton Museum of Art.