Mother & Child

Adam Walls

Hope Mills, NC

Sculptor Adam Walls returns to Clayton in the 3rd Annual Downtown Sculpture Trail. His piece, "Mother and Child," is 500-pound fabricated steel orbs that stand more than 4 feet tall outside our historic Town Hall at The Clayton Center.

Walls says he hopes the piece makes visitors think about the sharing of love, nourishment or experience between a mother and her child, especially when it's raining: that's when rainwater pours from the mouth of the larger form into the mouth of the smaller.

"Mother and Child" is part of a series Adam Walls created where he says he allows natural processes to occur moreso than in the majority of his large-scale work. Walls says there are elements involved in the interplay that allow him to shed some of his self-implemented restraints - this artistic freedom lets nature interact with his thoughts. Last year Walls debuted his work in the Town of Clayton at Horne Square with "Windchimes".

Walls is a large-scale sculptor and professor at UNC Pembroke, where he has taught since 2007. His previous teaching experience includes Limestone College, USC Upstate and an assistantship with Winthrop University. Before teaching at the college level, Walls taught 6 years in the public school system and 3 years for art centers and other private institutions. He operated his own ceramics studio where he taught pottery and won numerous awards for his ceramics as well as his woodworking and steel fabricated sculptures. He received his MFA in Sculpture from Winthrop University in 2005 and his BA in Art Education from Limestone College in 1996.

Adam Walls is a member of the College Art Association and Tri-State Sculptors - his sculptures have been exhibited in numerous sculpture parks and sculpture exhibitions across the country. Walls' current work is predominantly monumentally scaled steel fabricated forms which often reflect his interest in escapist fantasy. As an educator with over a decade of teaching experience, Walls' dedication to his students is embodied in his pedagogy. He covers a variety of subjects that include steel fabrication, plaster casting and carving, woodworking, the creation of volumetric forms using found objects, stone carving, and the creation of functional art and sculptural prosthetics. His teaching philosophy promotes students finding their own voice and making use of a variety of materials.