Shray

Olympic Bronze Sculptor Shray Garners Highest Rating for
2008 Beijing Olympics Sculpture Contest

The organizing committee of the Bejing 2008 Olympic Landscape Design Contest, chaired by Mr. Yuan XiKun, invited bronze sculptor Shray to participate in the contest. Her sculpture has garnered the prestigious “Excellent Works” distinction. Press Release

SHRAY BIO

At the age of 15, Shray boldly declared to her mother that she intended to be a bronze sculptor. It was in the Louvre in Paris, in the shadow of the Greek sculpture, Winged Victory, when she had a sudden “knowing” about what she would do for the rest of her life. Since that day she has followed that calling and been true to the promise made to her mother so many years ago.

Shray began formal, classical training with a full scholarship to the Academy of Art in San Francisco and at the San Francisco Art Institute. Subsequently, she studied with world-class bronze artists within the setting of a working foundry. There she learned the demanding physical tasks of foundry work as well as the subtle touches that distinguish excellence from mediocrity.

For more than two decades Shray has continued to seek out the masters and learn from their works. She intensely studied the sculptures of Rodin to understand how he captured movement in the stillness of bronze; sat for days with works by ancient Greek sculptors and spent months at the Louvre with Michelangelo’s masterpieces.

Shray slowly developed the unique “substractionist” technique that characterizes her work today. The result is sensuous, moving sculptures that strike a perfect balance between contemporary and representational art. Her work has a strong emotive quality that attracts and moves the viewer. Today she has many collectors and is shown in fine galleries throughout the U.S.

Recently, the 2008 Olympic Committee in Beijing, China, announced that her piece, "Raising Tomorrow’s Olympic Champion,” was a finalist in the international sculpture competition. Her piece, selected from among more than 2,300 entries, is one of only two works from the U.S. to be awarded an “Excellent” rating. The work will tour China this summer.

Medium – Bronze, limited edition series, life-size and reductions


Balance by Shray Bronze Sculpture Edition of 20, 60” x18" x 18” Edition of 40, 30" x 8" x 6"	Variation of One by Shray Bronze Sculpture Edition of 15, 48” x 24” x 24” Limited Edition of 40, 17.5” x 8” x 9”

Evermore by Shray Bronze Sculpture Edition of 40, 13" x 7" x 7"	As One (* see note below) by Shray Bronze Sculpture Edition of 20, 25" x 10" x 8"

The Nostalgic Series - Reductions by Shray (As One, Forevermore, Balance) Bronze Sculpture 12 "x 5" x 4.5"

* Inspiration for my Olympic Piece - Shray

While I was creating my new "Artist Nostalgia" series, I was invited by the Olympic Committee in Beijing, China to participate in the 2008 Olympics Sculpture Competition.

At the time, I was re-creating "As One" in a smaller size. The parents in "As One" are holding a newborn baby in the air in celebration of new life and all the potential it holds. The image and message inspired me to create "Raising Tomorrow's Olympic Champions ," the piece that the jurors selected as a finalist in the competition.

I envisioned this monumental piece becoming an interactive sculpture that encourages children to honor their parents, reminds parents to uplift their children and reinforces the power of Olympic dreams. Those dreams can be be about achieving excellence in sports, or becoming a great teacher, writer, poet, artist or parent. The dream is as individual as is the dreamer.