Sculptor Elisha Gold is returning home to Gulfport from Memphis, Tennessee, for a 10-year retrospective art exhibit. Important works from his collection that demonstrate his changing style in figural representation are currently on display at the Jefferson Davis Campus Fine Arts Gallery and will remain there until February 4. There will be a farewell reception on February 4 from noon – 1 p.m. and from 6 – 8 p.m., with an artist’s talk at 6:30 p.m.

Gold first began to explore metal fabrication in his vocational/technical courses at Harrison Central High School, where he repurposed found objects to create life-size fine art “junk art” sculptures. One of these sculptures went on to win Best of Show at Biloxi’s Trash to Treasure recycled art competition in 2000. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine

Arts in sculpture in 2005 from William Carey University, where he won the People’s Choice Award for best artwork for four consecutive years in the university’s annual student art competition. He was also a known fixture in galleries like the Jonathan Ferrara Gallery in New Orleans.

In 2009, Gold earned his Master of Fine Arts in sculpture, with a specialization in metallurgic arts, at the University of Memphis. There, he worked as an adjunct professor, teaching assistant, shop technician and metals instructor. He has a studio there in which he creates large-scale public and private works on commission, such as his nine-foot kinetic sphere “Beacon” made from 51 spinning rims for the Sears building. As part of “Live From Memphis” (LFM), he created a seven-foot kinetic halo for the rooftop of the LFM building. Gold exhibits around the country, and in 2015, exhibited for the first time in New York City as part of “The Memphis Bowery.”

Gold said his work begins when he discovers an interesting ready-made object, which he combines with human characteristics and forged metal objects to create a “biomechanical narrative.” He uses the human face so the viewer can have a more personal experience with the sculpture.

“I can’t escape the mechanical aspect of the body. In my work, I express the relationship of soul and machine working as one,” he said. “My work emerges from metal and imagination to make a sculpture I love.”

The exhibit and artist talk are free and open to the public. Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Friday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information, contact gallery director Cecily Cummings at cecily.cummings@mgccc.edu or (228) 897-3909.