American Graffiti: Painting, Dyeing, and Surface
Design in Wood

Opening December 5, 2025

Curator: Amrut Mishra

During the 1970s, prominent American woodturners like Bob Stocksdale and David Ellsworth marshalled their virtuosic talents to turn vessels that showcased the natural and idiosyncratic features of wood such as knots, infestations, and complex grain figure. Embracing species such as Brazilian rosewood, African blackwood, and pink ivory wood that appeared “exotic” to American audiences, these artists highlighted the drama of naturally occurring figuration. By the 1980s, artists began to challenge this prevailing orthodoxy; pioneers like Meryll Saylan questioned the creative value of rarefied wood types and the field’s prevailing rejection of surface decoration. American Graffiti: Painting, Dyeing, and Surface Design in Wood follows the rebellious, experimental, and often quirky spirit of artists who dare to obscure the unadulterated beauty of wood grain.

Drawn from the Museum’s permanent collection, American Graffiti presents twenty-one objects by eighteen artists. Works of turning, carving, and sculpture demonstrate how the allure of color and surface design has captivated artists working in wood. For some, wood offers a blank canvas for representational sculpture, embellished by the application of vivid paint or imagery. For others, dye and surface texturing deepens the exploration of formal qualities like shape and volume, without the distraction of figured patterning. Taken together, these artists offer a tongue in cheek response to collectors, enthusiasts, and critics that limit their appreciation of wood art to the beauty of strictly natural features. Through automotive lacquer, fiberglass, milk paint, or dye, these works invite viewers to appreciate the artistic touch that remains on the surface.

Artists:

Jérôme Blanc; Mike Darlow; Michael De Forest; Giles Gilson; Louise Hibbert; Michael Hosaluk; Michael Hosaluk and Mark Sfirri; Connie Mississippi; Binh Pho, Greg Wilber and David Williams; Hap Sakwa; Merryll Saylan; Betty Scarpino; David Sengel; Alan Stirt; Derek Weidman; Maria Van Kesteren

Location: The Fleur and Charles Bresler Research Library at the Museum for Art in Wood

American Graffiti is generously supported by the Cambium Giving Society of the Museum for Art in Wood, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, The Bresler Foundation, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Philadelphia Cultural Fund, and Windgate Foundation.

Pictured above: Merryll Saylan, North Seas, 1988. Photo by John Carlano