Retired TXST Professor has retrospective showcasing works old, new and transformed

LOCAL ART

Life is what you make it, and for 44 days the life that Roger Colombik made was on display at the Texas State Galleries in the form of two art shows. As a professor for 34 years, the shows were just as much a homecoming as it was a celebration of over four decades of work as well as a look at new works made as a response to the recent ice storms that decimated countless flora in the Texas Hill Country. Gallery One hosted ‘After The Storm,’ which brought a new life to hundreds of trees on the artist’s property that were lost during the storm while Gallery Two hosted “To Begin… Again,” which showcased breathtaking metal cast works as well as 40 cast bronze ingots made from old projects that will be gifted to future sculptures to begin the cycle of art once again.

Roger Colombik touched the life of many young artists during his 34 years as a professor and Sculpture Head at Texas State University. Many students noted the artistic confidence he helped instill in them during his time teaching. During the opening and closing receptions dozens of students and friends came out to explore the worlds built by Colombik. His career has extended past the boundaries of TXST, reaching all across Texas and beyond. He made a special point to mention his wife and artistic collaborator Jerolyn Bahm-Colombik who has been a vital part of his artistic journey.

“Although these two rooms are ME, we have a whole other life where it was WE, the collaborations with Jery and myself that are not a part of this but it is a very important part of our life together, our work,” Colombik said during the closing reception. After introductions and thank you’s the crowd gathered in Gallery One to explore ‘After The Storm’.

“It took me a long time to understand that I have a responsibility to be a steward of the land,” Colombik said. “To recognize that sense of home allowed me to pay much more attention and really work the land.” He saw the devastation of the winter storms on his own land, destroying groves of oak, cedar and elm trees and he realized that he had the opportunity to give life back to the death and destruction of these trees.

“It just hit real quick, the idea that I’m going to bring grace back to the fractured forest,” Colombik explained. The gallery was filled with sculptures made from the repurposed trees. Elegant limbs climbed towards the ceiling which danced with the sculpted metal that ballooned out at the peak. Flowers carved from the discard bloomed new life and blossomed across the gallery floor. The warm brown tones of the wood contrasted sharply with the cold silver metal, creating a balance that intrigued the audience. Carved wooden lily pads floated across the gallery floor. Even after decades as a sculptor Colombik noted that this experience transformed his practice.

“For all those years I was teaching kids downstairs how to do stuff with wood; so it was fun to finally shut up and do it myself,” Colombik said after reflecting on a career spent heavily in metals. Gallery Two hosted ‘To Begin…Again’ which acted more as a retrospective of Colombik’s relationship to cast metal.

“I became a sculptor because I fell in love with the foundry,” Colombik said. He explained that he was an 18 year old freshman at Southern Illinois University when he started his love affair with sculpting metal, also noting that tuition was quite the bargain at $450 a semester. He walked the crowd through his works, outlining the path that led him to these creations. His mother loved drawing and he noted how grateful he was to have early artistic influences. Being introduced to the foundry his first week of college gave him that spark of inspiration that led to his long career casting metal and running a foundry of his own at TXST.

“[The foundry] benefited me, I would say, as an artist, but also greatly as somebody wanting to be a teacher,” Colombik said. The crowd stood in a room full of metal maquettes as well as fully realized sculptures, a history of the sculptor. A metal rug rippled in the center with cast and patinaed spiderwort and handmade metal tassels. In a corner a table of raw stone held cast metal scrolls, wound tight, forever sealing the words that lay within. On the opposite wall was a metal chair, surrounded by metal drapes and cast paper scattered at its feet. In between the works was the wall of 40 cast plaques with the words ‘To Begin… Again’ and the date, signifying a year of work, made from discarded projects with the intention to be given to new sculptors, to pass on the commitment of creation.

“That was the goal, is that I disappear and another generation of sculptors can use my background in a real conceptual manner to feed their own life,” Colombik said. One can find more of his works on his website at rogercolombik.com.