Arlington county is home to more than 70 permanent public art installations, including Ridge, a dynamic structure by sculptor Foon Sham in Oakland Park along Wilson Boulevard in Virginia Square.
Known for his large-scale organic works hewn from reclaimed materials, Sham draws inspiration from the natural formations and landmarks he has encountered while traveling the globe.
Ridge evokes the undulating landscapes one might see in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains or the Colorado Rockies. Viewed from another angle, its vaulted form—which doubles as a shading element that pedestrians can walk through or sit underneath—has the protective feeling of a cave or cathedral. The structure is made of Kebony wood, a sustainable alternative to tropical hardwood made from treated pine.
Since its installation in 2019, the piece has weathered to a shimmery silver on the outside. That’s by design.
Ridge has cousins. For Sham, who was born in Macau and grew up in Hong Kong, the shaggy mass is actually part of a larger series of investigations. Variations of the same form appeared in Arches of Life, a six-piece installation for the Smithsonian’s 2019 Habitat exhibition on the National Mall, as well as in Escape Tunnel, a 62-foot-long sculpture at the American University Museum’s Katzen Art Center. He created the latter in 2017 as a metaphor for the U.S.-Mexico border, as well as his own personal journey.
“That piece was about me chasing my dream as an artist—leaving Hong Kong, where there were no art opportunities, and coming to America at age 21,” says the sculptor, who holds an MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University and began his career out of a studio at the Arlington Arts Center. He now teaches sculpture and design at the University of Maryland in College Park. His works are in collections worldwide.
“Eventually you get to the end of the tunnel,” he says, “but life’s journey never ends.”