Artwork copyright James Entz. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Fluted Column, 1998

James Entz
American (born 1957)

Location: Edison Elementary School, Tacoma

About the Artwork

Fluted Column is part of a body of painted sculptures by artist James Entz. These works begin as a single piece of wood painted with hundreds of layers of paint. The artist then carves away the paint and bends the wood to reveal variations in color and surface, and record the process of its making. This piece took close to a year to make. He notes, “These paint layers form the topography of a landscape that mimics the accretionary process of the natural world; from sedimentation to the rings of a tree (a natural record of the past)… These works are a meditation on the process of art-making.”

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Tacoma Public Schools.

About the Artist

California-based artist James Entz creates carved wooden sculptures that incorporate painted layers of vivid colors. His pieces explore metaphors of the creative process and the relationship between unpredictable and intentional artistic choices.