USC Upstate showcases outdoor sculptures by Adam Walls

USC Upstate has installed a special outdoor sculpture exhibition for the 2006-07 gallery season. Adam Walls, a sculptor and former student at USC Upstate, will display six monumental steel sculptures on the campus for exhibit from August 15 to May 15, 2007. Four sculptures have been installed to date.

"USC Upstate is setting the pace in Spartanburg for contemporary sculpture, and I am pleased to be able to present this work in conjunction with the permanent works already on campus," said Jane Nodine, a professor of art and director of the Art Gallery. "There are numerous instructors and professors from across the region who bring their classes to our campus to view our monumental sculpture because of the style, design quality, and construction of the pieces. Our permanent works are all by artists living and working in the South."

Walls' works are constructed of steel, typically painted in bold opaque colors, almost always viewer interactive, and, in many ways, very figurative. The concept of the works is playful and humorous and reflects his interest in games children play and the toys that interest them. Several of his works are "interactive" in the sense that the viewer is "invited" to touch and interact with the works, unlike most works in galleries and museums.

Walls is not surprised when children or adults climb and "play" on his works, which he said, reminds people of playground equipment or over-sized toys.

The four sculptures installed to date are "Christmas Surprise," a bright red jack-in-the-box; "Solution," a light green and purple rocket plane; "Self Portrait," a lavender and green construction equipment toy; and "Toy Defense," a bright yellow toy with arms in a defensive posture.

Children often find ways to deal with real world problems through fantasy play, Walls said. They often imbue toys and other objects with their own thoughts and emotions. They are capable of simplifying sometimes very serious issues that are out of their control and, through this toy play, find ways to empower themselves.

Walls compared his works to the field of psychology called "play therapy," which child psychologists use to understand children by watching how they play with toys.

"Toys become an extension of what is going on with the child," Walls said, adding that his sculptures, on a large scale, allow him to "hide inside my toys."

Through his work, Walls expresses themes such as memory of childhood, response to violence, personal therapy, and fantasy play. Fantasy heroes and toys have served as a creative outlet for many of his painful experiences. In many cases, his work is as much a response to self as it is to the toy image.

Walls attended USC Upstate in the mid-1990s and later transferred to Limestone College where he earned a degree in art. He also earned a master's of fine arts in sculpture from Winthrop University. Walls, an art teacher at Cowpens Junior High School, has a studio in Cowpens where he produces his work. He recently exhibited his sculpture in Chapel Hill and Charlotte.

For more information, contact Jane Nodine, professor of art and director of the Art Gallery, at 52-5838 or jnodine@uscupstate.edu.

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