Jamie Ribisi-Braley

I've been friends with Adam for many years.  We became friends when we were both teaching art classes at The Huntington School of Fine Arts in NY.  He was (and still is) the sculpture guru- and with good reason!  His imagination is really something to admire and his enthusiasm for sculpting is contagious.  It was always a treat to eavesdrop while he was one-on-one with a student and hacking away at their clay sculptures.

The best part was watching how he applied what he was preaching to his own work.  Anyone that teaches knows that your advice to your students weighs heavily on your own work.  One sentiment from him that I remember  was to keep chasing the vision and to never let the sculpture win-- the artist is always in control.

I have the distinct honor of being Adam's webmaster which means that I have the first chance of seeing his sculptures before he releases them into the world.  This newest piece pictured above, 'Studio', really grabbed me and I keep coming back to it, zooming in, and imagine being inside this tower as it's flailing around.  I feel this turbulence in my own studio and in my head but I have to remind myself that it's on a solid foundation-- no matter how crazy it looks, it's solid and will hold me up.  I'm not sure if that's what Adam intended with this piece but that's the nice thing about art; you bring your own emotions and baggage to the trip.  And our ideas are golden as long as we enjoy the ride.

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