Atlanta sculptor Roger Foster’s “Objects of Ritual” is a series of sculptures in stone, wood, steel and brass that comes from his study of two symbols found at shaman burial sites in China dating from 5000 to 1200 B.C.E. He has been working with wood for more than 25 years, but in the late 1990s he made the leap from woodturning to conceptual sculpture. True to his concept for “Objects of Ritual,” the pieces are at once earthy and ethereal. Foster says he wanted not only to make a piece of art but to “create a spiritual and contemplative statement with an essence and identity all its own.” Oh, and the art sure is pretty.

This article appears in Jul 12-18, 2007.