derek oliver - works in concrete

 

concrete as i see it

Clockwise from left to right : The Gate - 2001, Around - 2008, filling up a mold, detail of  Tori Arch.

We all know concrete. We walk, drive, and live on it, many of us have worked with it, whether it be building bridges or setting a post in it for a fence or new swing set. Through knowledge, passion, and effort, I strive to take it to unexpected levels of both form and finish. Taking what is normally seen as cold, hard, and utilitarian and making it smooth, soft and tactile. Concrete’s responsiveness to one’s efforts in its making and  later to the environment into which it is placed is both thrilling and humbling, gratifying and unapologetic. It is massive in its strengths and tender in its frailty. It is in a word - human, in all its complexity. It is this very complexity and all its challenges that so deeply endures me to this wonderful material.


In sculpture, I employ simple forms, clean lines, and the penetrating depth and mottling of color achieved through casting with integrally colored concrete to execute my work. 


Please enjoy the galleries of selected and architectural works.