Randal Leek, Wood Sculpture

Artist Bio:

A native to the Pacific Northwest, Randal has traveled throughout the world creating natural abstract forms from exotic hardwoods.

History:

Randal Leek received his M.S. Engineering degree from Washington State University and has worked overseas for 20 years in humanitarian assistance (UNICEF, UNHCR, CARE, Save the Children UK, IRC) in Sudan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Albania, India, Pakistan and most recently in Afghanistan   (USAID). He has been the featured artist in the December 2017 issue of Yakima Magazine and his sculptures have been exhibited in the U.S. Embassy in Kabul and in galleries in La Conner, Cannon Beach, Yachats, Edmonds and Yakima, where he now lives.

Sculptures:

His sculptures capture the nature of the tree from which they came, including the natural grain and life-earned blemishes within. Some of the spectacular material used in his pieces (teak, balu’t oak, sycamore, sheesham, padouk, zebra wood, etc.) was found in the deserts and mountains (and local markets) of Sudan, Afghanistan, Gabon and Thailand, expressing their aged, dried and weathered essence. 

Inspiration:

The inspiration for his work comes from shapes and textured surfaces found in nature, refined in art by precise edges contrasting with the untouched roughness of exposed weathering of forms often found on the shores of Puget Sound and in the forests of the Cascades.