Kalmanovitz Hall Rooftop Sculpture Terrace

Strange Attractors: New Work by Mark Baugh-Sasaki

January 18–August 4, 2013
Kalmanovitz Hall Sculpture Terrace

Mark Baugh-Sasaki, a San Francisco native, unites elements of industrial and natural landscapes in his sculptures in order to investigate the relationships, adaptations, transformation and conflicts that arise in this hybrid environment. Combining steel, fallen tree limbs and greywacke and blueschist boulders, his sculptures range from organic arches and pods to multi-spiked “stars” reminiscent of Medieval weaponry.

For "Strange Attractors," Mark built on site to create a series of caged boulders that conform to the space around them, making it look as if they were emerging from or traversing the space. In the pieces, steel prosthetics support wood cores, steel rods grow seductively around tree trunks and steel corsets encase large stones. Baugh-Sasaki’s works put equal value on both industrial and natural materials, suggesting a symbiotic relationship between the two.

Think Andrew Goldsworthy meets Victor Frankenstein, and you have Mark Baugh-Sasaki’s "Strange Attractors." Jasmine Moorhead, director of Krowswork Art Gallery, states that Baugh-Sasaki’s works "help the viewer navigate and find peace with the juxtaposition of the natural and the man-made that is the reality of our environment today....[it] demonstrates a nuanced and integrated relationship to the constructed landscapes of our time." 

In addition to these new works, the University will present Baugh-Sasaki’s large-scale Hayes Valley commission, "Adaptations," under the trees in front of Gleeson Library | Geschke Center.

Mark Baugh-Sasaki attended Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where he studied photography and sculpture. He has exhibited his work at numerous locations throughout the U.S. and abroad, including the Islip Art Museum, New York; Geumgang International Art Center, Chungcheongnam-do, Korea; Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito; and Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco. He was recently awarded an Honorary James Irvine Foundation Fellowship for his work at the Djerassi Resident Artist Program in Woodside, CA. His public art sculpture Adaptations was commissioned and installed at Patricia’s Green in Hayes Valley, San Francisco, from July 2009 through January 2010. His most recent solo exhibition, "The Civilized Wild," was presented by Krowswork in Oakland.

*Weather permitting; a new location will be announced if necessary.