Ancestral Way

Robert Pulley grew up in the American Midwest where frequent solitary walks in the woods and along creeks and rivers of rural Indiana etched strong impressions into his memory of the varied forms, colors and textures around him. Evidence of the effects of time were everywhere in the rock strata, glacial till, ancient trees and aboriginal artifacts. There he found a sense of wonder that embraced the cycles of coming and going, change and chance. Pulley has a Master`s Degree in Sculpture and Ceramics from Ball State University. He has maintained a studio and pursued ceramics and sculpture since 1971. His work is in private and public collections throughout the country. “Looking back on my ceramic work over the years, I see an evolution of expressive forms based on intuition and improvisation. The work flows from my life as a result of perception and feeling. The sculptures reflect qualities that I recognize in nature and that strike a chord within me: burgeoning energy, tactile and visual richness of surface and form as well as evidence of inevitable loss and change. They combine references to organic growth, geologic stratification and erosion, figurative gesture and time. The resulting layering of references to growth and decay, plant and animal, biological and inorganic embeds the human figure within the teeming forces of nature.”