Damian Priour creates tranquil sculptures made of sand and water--or rather stone and glass. He uses native Texas limestone, embedded with ancient fossils, to represent sand, and incorporates glass as a metaphor for water. He manages to combine these two seemingly incongruent materials into works of beauty. Some of his monumental pieces are in excess of 20 feet high and can be found outside of buildings throughout the United States. Others come in the form of large bowls of water, with fun and intriguing items sunk beneath the glass. They are all reminiscent of an underwater architectural wonderland.
Priour grew up on the beach, in the Gulf of Mexico, where seven generations of his family were born on the shores of Padre Island. He was 6 years old before he realized sand was not an ingredient on a hot dog. He was left with an indelible image of water stretching out to meet the sand. Little did he know that this natural phenomenon would someday be the catalyst for his life's work.
On the show, Priour creates a 20-inch limestone bowl with layers of glass (water) leading to a ship at the bottom of the bowl. He starts by cutting the fossil stone using masonry saws, files, chisels and sanders. He does not work off of a pattern, just the design in his head. Once he has carved the stone bowl, he cuts the glass to fit within the bowl using diamond saws. Then he applies a resist, using hot glue, to the stone, and surface treats the stone by sandblasting it. The same thing is done to glass. When the sandblasting is complete, the glue is peeled off, leaving behind his desired effects. Although he often uses colored glass, he still chooses to airbrush some of the glass to achieve different colors. Finally, he assembles the two materials with ultraviolet adhesive. Damian's sculptures are peaceful and exciting. The clarity of his vision, and the combination of materials, make his art truly unique.
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