James Surls, The Splendora Years

"In Me, the Axe and the Wand, the spiral shape becomes a figure with a church shaped head. One arm wields a wavy wand, the other an axe. Surls explains that for him, the axe is always a positive symbol. It refers to the act of building and creation, and looks back to his childhood on a 100 acre farm when he and his brothers were given the affectionate nickname 'the bushwackers.' Here the figure couples this implement of the wood carver's trade with the magician's wand which reaches upward like a bolt of electricity—suggesting how the combination of inspiration and physical labor bring about the sculptures he creates."

-Eleanor Heartney, from Splendora: A Love Story in the publication "James Surls: The Splendora Years, 1977-1997."


	Me, the Axe, and the Wand 1982 Pine, mahogany, oak 125.5 x 44 x 26 in 318.8 x 11.8 x 66 cm Collection of the artist "In Me, the Axe and the Wand, the spiral shape becomes a figure with a church shaped head. One arm wields a wavy wand, the other an axe. Surls explains that for him, the axe is always a positive symbol. It refers to the act of building and creation, and looks back to his childhood on a 100 acre farm when he and his brothers were given the affectionate nickname 'the bushwackers.' Here the figure couples this implement of the wood carver's trade with the magician's wand which reaches upward like a bolt of electricity—suggesting how the combination of inspiration and physical labor bring about the sculptures he creates." -Eleanor Heartney, from Splendora: A Love Story in the publication "James Surls: The Splendora Years, 1977-1997."