Oak Screen, Mark Sfirri & Robert Dodge

Mark Sfirri & Robert Dodge

Oak Screen, 1989

Oak, Bubinga, Paint and Gold Leaf

Mark Sfirri and Robert Dodge collaborated on artwork from 1986 to 1993 on furniture and objects. Bugs and Thugs, in the companion show, is an example of an early turned and carved form that Mark created and Robert Dodge painted. Robert Dodge was the one that pushed for the idea of making a folding screen. Sfirri understood that it would be an interested challenge for a painter but was unsure about how to approach it for his creation of it. In the end, they became the most signature works of their collaborations. From 1986-1993 they made about a dozen of them. They were sold through Jane Korman’s Swan Gallery on Rittenhouse Square and Sansar Gallery in Washington DC. Bugs and Thugs and one of their screens were featured in American Craft in February 1988.

About the Artist, Mark Sfirri:

Mark Sfirri is an esteemed figure in the world of woodturning and woodworking. Born with an innate passion for craftsmanship, creativity, and artistic collaboration, he is renowned for his innovations in art in wood.

Sfirri earned a BFA and MFA in Furniture Design at Rhode Island School of Design, where he began to explore ways to incorporate lathe-turned parts into furniture and turned some double-rimmed platters, one of which was his first off-center turning. As an MFA student, he made a set of six dining chairs constructed of off-center turned elements, which planted the seeds for his future experimentations in multi-axis spindle turning.

Sfirri’s work has been exhibited in prestigious galleries and museums worldwide and is held in numerous public collections including the Museum of Arts & Design (NY), Carnegie Museum of Art (Pittsburgh, PA), the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum (DC), the Minneapolis Institute of Art (MN), the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (CA), Yale University Art Gallery, the James A. Michener Art Museum (Doylestown, PA), and the Museum of Art in Wood (Philadelphia, PA). As a maker, researcher, and writer, he has conducted demonstrations and lectures throughout North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.

In addition to his role as an artist, Sfirri is professor emeritus at Bucks County Community College (Newtown, PA), where he taught full-time for nearly 40 years. He has received three national awards: the “Distinguished Educator Award” in 2010 from the Renwick Alliance and, in 2012, the “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the Collectors of Wood Art, and this year received the prestigious “2024 AAW POP Merit Award” from the American Association of Woodturners.