Artist Statement

 

My work has always been defined and influenced by the medium. Wood has been a source of inspiration and satisfaction for me since my childhood. Its graphic figure, tactile qualities, and rich and sensuous aromas have driven me to use form to explore these varied and exciting possibilities. My recent explorations of the use of precious metals in combination with wood has added a new dimension to the possibilities.

 

I began these explorations as a furniture maker. My studies at the Anderson Ranch Art Center exposed me to many of the masters of this craft and gave me not only technical skills but also an appreciation for craft as a design statement and an expression of one’s own personal vision of architecture on a small and human scale. These classes were built upon with further design studies at UCLA.

 

I have been actively turning since 1980. This area of woodworking allows me to use beautiful woods to design within the constraints of the vessel form. I enjoy the interplay of form and function while utilizing the graphic and tactile qualities of the wood, at times adorned with precious metals, to create vessels which engage the viewer and encourage connection with function and beauty.

 

The visual elements of the bowls often remind me of landscapes which range from desert scenes to the rich earth of the northeast. By working the texture of the wood and adding to its tactile richness, I hope to accentuate this connection to the land and its myriad visual experiences.

 

My forms have been heavily influenced by classical ceramics. The vessels of ancient China and Korea have a beauty which is timeless. I have also been influenced by the modern ceramic community and its tendency to explore and push the medium to new levels of expression. In the last analysis, however, it is the visceral excitement of "opening" a new piece of wood which continually renews my senses and provokes my interest. As I get deeper into a new block and discover its grain and figure, I more and more appreciate Michelangelo’s descriptions of his feeling as the marble gave way to the beautiful forms he found "trapped’ within.

• 1999 Piece Chosen For Presentation to The Prime Minister of Ireland
  
• 2003 NICHE Award Finalist

 Bibliography

• 2002 Woodworker West-Profile: Al Sils
  
• 2004 500 Wood Bowls (Lark Press)

 Selected Exhibitions

• 2006 New Work -The Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts -Ojai, California
  
• 2006 Westweek-The Pacific Design Center-Represented by The Bradbury Collection-, Los Angeles, California
• 2005 Collectors of Wood Art- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania- Represented by 
  Douglas-Baker Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota
  
• 2005 California Visions-Long Beach Museum of Art- Long Beach,
  California
  
• 2005 Small treasures-del Mano Gallery, Brentwood, California
  
• 2004 Fine Contemporary Craft-Artspace Gallery-Raleigh, North Carolina
  
• 2004 Celebrating Nature-Craft and Folk Art Museum-Los Angeles, 
  California
  
• 2004 SOFA New York-represented by del Mano Gallery, Brentwood, California
  
• 2004 Small Treasures-del Mano Gallery, Brentwood, California
  
• 2003 Showcase IV-Craft and Folk Art Museum-San Francisco. California
  
• 2003 Into The Woods-Long Beach Museum of Art-Long Beach, California
  
• 2003 Collectors of Wood Art-Santa Fe, New Mexico
  
• 2003 Small Treasures-del Mano Gallery, Brentwood, California
  
• 2003 SOFA Chicago-Represented by del Mano Gallery
  
• 2003 SOFA New York-Represented by del Mano Gallery, Brentwood, 
  California
  
• 2002 SOFA Chicago-Represented by del Mano Gallery, Brentwood, California
  
• 2002 Branching Out-Contemporary Woodturning in 2002 (in conjunction 
  with"Woodturning Since 1930" at the Renwick Gallery)-Ellipse Arts 
  Center, Arlington, Va.