Local sculptor Eric Morlan has used his imagination to craft three-dimensional art since childhood when he would play with his mother’s potting clay. He studied sculpture more extensively in the 1970s with artists and valued mentors Nat Fast, George Murrow, and Bill Shinn at Allan Hancock College.
Morlan works with many media, but metallic materials are his preferred element as of late. He focused quite a bit of attention on bronze casting, he said, but realized there were limitations in working with the famous alloy.
“At one point I thought that was the peak as a sculptor, to be doing bronze casting,” he said. “But after doing it a little while, I realized you had to give up some of the control after you released your piece to the foundry. Sometimes I’d be a little disappointed in the product that came back and it wasn’t exactly the way I wanted it to be.”
Morlan switched to fabricated aluminum, he explained, because it gave him more control over the metal. Working with the aluminum allows him to create entirely from his home studio, doing the heavy metal work in his garage.
An exhibit of Morlan’s aluminum sculptures is currently on view at Flying Goat Cellars in Lompoc. There are 10 pieces there, he said, including pedestal pieces and many that hang on the wall. Wall space at galleries is usually reserved for painters and other visual artists, he said, so it’s nice to have a chance to feature his hanging works.
The unique aspects of hanging sculpture are fun to explore for Morlan, and part of the fun comes from the difficulty in executing that distinct kind of work, he said.
“It has its own problems to solve other than a fully three-dimensional piece. It’s often more challenging because you are limited by the space from which it projects from the wall,” he said. “The limitations put on it, I like to look at it as a type of a challenge, to make it look like a fully three-dimensional piece of sculpture even though it’s on a flat surface.”
Within those limitations, Morlan has plenty of room to explore. He uses a variety of colors and shapes. Some of his sculptures are even meant to be moved around, either hung in different configurations or flipped on their pedestals.
Morlan also enjoys working in two distinct styles: abstract and representational. Some of the representational pieces clearly explore the human form, with several flat faces that all project out in different directions. His abstract work, however, makes up most of the show.
“I started out doing the figurative work and kind of morphed slowly into the abstract work as time went on,” he said. “I think I enjoy the abstract more, that’s why I was pulled more in that direction to do that kind of work.”
Before firing up his welder and heating up some aluminum, Morlan makes a model out of cardboard for each piece he wants to create. Even though he does lots of planning, there is spontaneity to the creative process, he said, because often the metal calls on him to change his approach and react to its temperament.
As a Lompoc resident, Morlan is grateful for the chance to show his sculpture in his hometown. He said Flying Goat Cellars is a great venue in which to share his work, and he hopes plenty of locals can make a visit to view the show.
“They didn’t have to provide space for showing artwork, but they did, and artists need to appreciate that when it happens, because it’s pretty rare,” he said. “And they actually have a nice space with lighting and the blank walls. It’s a great space.”
Arts Editor Joe Payne always wants to hear about great spaces. Contact him at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Sep 8-15, 2016.
