Curl Gordon heads to Houston

There is no shortage of sculptors in Belize, but there’s also no denying that just about all of them produce high quality goods in their own unique style. Tonight, we feature the work of Curl Gordon, who right from his “office” on Victoria Street, is bringing to life the visions in his head and the feelings of his heart.

Janelle Chanona, Reporting

His dreams, or nightmares, to be exact are sometimes his source of inspiration. But then there’s also music and before long, the sculpture becomes a tribute to his favorite artist or a symbol of brotherly love.

The hands responsible for these pieces belong to Curl Gordon and even though he’s been in this business for over twenty years, he still finds it amazing when driftwood becomes a masterpiece.

Curl Gordon, Sculptor

“It’s not always just looking on a piece of wood and saying well yes I will do this and do that. Some of the times, you get to work with the wood and the harmony that the wood has, that’s what you’ve got to work with sometimes. Sometimes you would go to work and let’s say I’m doing an abstract, so you know, most of the time people will just go and look at that and figure that that’s anything that comes to mind. It’s not like that because you have to work with what the wood has some of the times, and you got to still instill certain ideas in the wood in order to bring out the feeling that you’re working with at the time. It’s something that I will never ever be able to get over, as an artist, some of the times how I do it, how it’s shaped. I look at some of my work sometimes and can’t believe that I did it because of all the love that I put into to it you know.”

His efforts over the years have paid off and today Gordon is a very successful sculptor in Belize. He and two of his sons scour the shore and as far inland as the Sibun gorge for wood with potential. But while many Belizean businesses proudly display his work, Gordon himself has never put on an exhibition that is until now. For the past two weeks, he’s been packing up his personal favorites and shipping them to Houston.

Curl Gordon

“I’m hyped up, I’m hyped up in a sense because this is my first exhibition abroad, my first exhibition in general because I’ve never had an exhibition here in Belize. I’ve always been able to talk to the media about what I’m doing and there are a few pieces that have been exposed, to the media, to the people of Belize and I’m proud of that as well. But I am more hyped up now, with where I’m gonna go and try and make an impact.”

With pieces like these, making an impact, especially on someone’s wallet, shouldn’t be very hard. Gordon promises that sometime soon, he’ll make sure the Belizean public gets an eyeful of his accomplishments so far.

Reporting for News Five, I am Janelle Chanona

Gordon’s exhibition will run from July 21st to August 18th in Houston Texas.