Hickory Bowl Sculpture

Randal Leek has experimented with sculpture since childhood, although never pursued art seriously until the past 10 years. He received his M.S. Engineering degree from Washington State University and has worked overseas for over 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). “Sculpting should have been my life,” he said. “I am in my studio every day and it’s the most satisfying work I have ever done. I have lived an interesting life, and this is the most challenging, interesting stage of my life.” 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 Washington and Oregon galleries in La Conner, Ellensburg, Cannon Beach and Yakima, where he now lives. His sculptures capture the intricacies of the wood from which they came, including the natural grain and life-earned blemishes within. Some of the spectacular material used in his pieces (teak, balut, sycamore, sheesham, padouk, zebra wood, etc.) were found in the deserts and mountains (and local markets) of Sudan, Afghanistan, Gabon and Thailand, expressing their aged, dried and weathered essence. The inspiration for his work comes from shapes and textured surfaces found in nature, refined in art by precise edges and polished surfaces contrasting with the untouched roughness of exposed weathering of natural form.