Encounters

This year’s Easter Art Exhibition, Encounters, features the sculptural work of Larry Wilson—a body of work grounded in natural materials and shaped by a deep attentiveness to form, place, and human experience.

Across three distinct series—Spirit Vessels, I Am Here, and Having a Voice—Wilson invites viewers into a contemplative space where material and meaning are inseparable. Working primarily in clay, wood, and found natural elements, he creates sculptures with a quiet immediacy, shaped as much by touch and process as by concept.

In his Spirit Vessels series, Wilson reflects on traditional vessel forms inspired by Native American pottery and the cultural landscape of New Mexico and Florida. Hand-built using the coil method, the vessels honor ancient utilitarian forms used for carrying, storing, and sustaining life. Their surfaces remain intentionally unrefined, allowing the integrity of their construction to remain visible. Driftwood handles—bound in rawhide—extend the work into a dialogue between regions and materials, evoking both endurance and simplicity.

The I Am Here series turns toward the human figure, exploring the evolving experience of masculinity today. These works carry a quiet intensity, reflecting internal pressures, expectations, and the ways identity is shaped through both external demands and self-imposed standards.

In Having a Voice, the narrative expands into expression and presence—what it means to speak with strength and clarity, and what it feels like to stand vulnerable or uncertain in the same breath. The works move between confidence and fragility, holding space for both.

Together, these series form a unified meditation on embodiment, presence, and connection to the natural world. Wilson’s work invites viewers not only to observe, but to encounter—materials, form, and themselves—within the quiet power of sculpture shaped by hand and earth.

Larry Wilson
Sculpture
[email protected]
www.larrywilsonartist.com

Larry Wilson received his Bachelor of Design degree from the University of Florida in 1976.  After practicing in Houston, Washington, DC, and New York City, Wilson relocated to Jacksonville, Florida.

Wilson has exhibited in national museums and galleries including the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, Jacksonville, Fl., MOCA, Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville, The Fine Art Museum of the South, Montgomery, Alabama, The Alexander Breast Museum at Jacksonville University, The Boca Museum, Baca Raton, Florida, Montgomery Museum of Art, Montgomery, Alabama, The Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, Florida and The Nathan Wilson Gallery at Florida State College in Jacksonville.

He served as Chair of the Art in Public Places Committee, served on the board of The Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville, and was appointed to the Jacksonville International Airport Art Commission. Wilson has served as a Trustee on the board of the Jacksonville Museum of Contemporary Art.  He is currently an active member of the Art in Public Places Committee and sits on the Board of Directors for the Cathedral Arts Project (CAP).

Larry maintains a sculptural studio at the CoRK Arts District in Jacksonville, Florida

He works both in painting & sculpture.