Knife, Flower and Snake
1997

Bronze          38 x 35 x 31 in          96.5 x 88.9 x 78.7 cm          Collection of the artist

"I have the same reaction to James’ work when there is a palpable tension between the abstract and the figurative. He uses sculpture, Faulkner used prose...Both artists present the established order and response to nature. Then, they turn it on its head. Surls takes a magnolia blossom; it can also be cactus. This is the basic premise of Modernism—undermine the established order."

 -Hiram Butler, gallerist, colleague and friend of James Surls, from interview with Terrie Sultan, 2004.