Untitled (Wood Wall Sculpture)

James Messana studied Architecture at the University of Detroit. He realized sculpture was his true calling and studied for eight years with Hungarian sculptor Frank Varga Sr. (1906-1989). “When I started my studies in sculpture as a teenager, I was not aware of what an amazing expression of one’s thoughts and feelings art could be. My sculpture, therefore, is how I have communicated my thoughts throughout the years and my interpretations of the world around me. The interpretation takes form with suggestions of growth, evolution, change – consistently dynamic. Forms evolve from other forms, recede, are born again into something new. That is how I view the world and have attempted to show it as such.”

Three of Messana's sculptures in the Cultural Properties Collection, Smith House are constructed from wedges of walnut. In the late 1960s, Messana started creating "junk sculptures" from found objects. These offcuts were sourced from a carpenter's woodshop in Grosse Pointe and reassembled into twisting geometric configurations.

Nina Blomfield
2021-2023 Decorative Arts Trust Marie Zimmermann Collections Fellow
Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research
November 2023

Leslie Mio
Associate Registrar
Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research
November 2023