For Mark Sfirri, a Bucks County-based woodturner, it’s an unusually exciting time in his career.
Not only does he have a solo exhibition, entitled La Famiglia, currently on display at Philadelphia’s Museum for Art in Wood, another solo exhibition, Mark Sfirri: The Flower Show, is coming to the Michener Art Museum Dec. 14.
“So I’ll actually have two solo exhibitions that are concurrent for a few months. It’s very unusual, at least for me,” Sfirri told The Times. “I’ve been involved in hundreds of exhibitions, but typically it’s a piece or two, or something like that. Solo shows, maybe I’ve had five in 50 years. So to have two in one year, it’s really unusual. But I’ve just been putting my all into this.”
Both hold special meaning for Sfirri. Regarding La Famiglia, when asked by Museum for Art in Wood director Jennifer-Navva Milliken to create an exhibition of all-new pieces that share a common theme, an idea quickly came to him: family.
Hailing from a large family of Polish, Ukrainian and Italian descent, Sfirri got to thinking about his grandparents, all four of whom immigrated to the U.S. in the early 1900s through Ellis Island, his mother and father, who passed away in 2019 and 2012, respectively, and his 20 aunts and uncles, the last of whom died in 2020.
“Just this whole idea of family was something I was reflecting on out of these experiences, plus having my son get married and our first grandchild. It was sort of this whole moment of thinking about what family means,” he said. “And I don’t view it as autobiographical by any means. It’s more the idea of everybody’s family.”
La Famiglia is comprised of several groupings, including the 29 small figures of “The Ellis Islanders.” From young children to seniors, each wooden sculpture is a caricature of an individual who immigrated into the U.S. Sfirri gave each a distinctive hat, as was the style of the 1900s, and intentionally made their faces expressionless.
“Nobody’s mad or smiling,” he explained. “They’re going through a process.”
Another grouping is “The Immigrant,” the formation of which involved Sfirri calling on 45 artists and colleagues to contribute a two-dimensional, four-inch portrait depicting an “immigrant” of their choice, whether a person or an idea. These contributions were then arranged into five 30-inch square frames carved by Sfirri. In some cases, the subject is indigenous to the land in which they and their descendants were born and raised, and in others, the immigrants are the artists themselves. All serve to challenge assumptions and deepen conceptions toward immigration, families and lineages, and influence.
In addition to their artwork, the participating artists were asked to share the story behind each subject, displayed alongside the five frames.
“They were visiting their past and they felt really good about that,” Sfirri said. “You get to know people. I have lots of friends, but you don’t talk about things like this too much. I didn’t really know anything about this subject, where they came from or some interesting, historical thing. I’m hoping that people open up a little bit to thinking how they can think about family aside from just a straight, ‘This is my family. I have a child, I have two parents.’ So just interpretation of what that actually means.”
As for The Flower Show, if someone told Sfirri years ago that he’d someday be making countless floral designs out of wood, he wouldn’t have believed them. This venture began in 2022, when his son got married at the Museum for Art in Wood. Despite Sfirri’s soon-to-be daughter-in-law loving flowers, none were allowed during the ceremony, as the pollen would be bad for the artwork.
“I said, ‘No problem, I’ll make them.’ I had never made flowers before. I didn’t know where I was gonna go with that one, but it was four months or so in advance,” he said.
Sfirri was given a color palette of purple and red, and inspiration from her favorite flower, the ranunculus. The first attempt was, as Sfirri so candidly described it, “awful,” due to the fact that he was basing his work off of images and trying to make it look as realistic as possible. For the next go-around, he took a different approach.
“The form of the flower is going to be determined by what I associate flowers to be in my head, not looking at flowers. And then combine that with what I’m able to woodturn and carve,” he said.
Eventually, Sfirri found his groove and successfully made two vases, each filled with a dozen painted flowers; the bride’s bouquet made of a white wood with brass stems; a boutonniere for his son; and nine small pins for the wedding party.
He had so much fun with it that, while working with Michener curator Laura Turner Igoe, he pitched the idea of an entire wooden floral exhibit. She was receptive to the idea, with Sfirri churning out enough flowers to fill an entire solo exhibition over the past two and a half years.
“It involves turning, which I enjoy. It involves carving, which I enjoy, and it involves creativity. It’s a pretty looser, open subject that I can continue to do,” he said. “I would’ve kept making them no matter what, but it’s really nice to have a venue that’s willing to showcase them. So I’m very excited about that.”
Both exhibitions will have catalogs, a 64-pager with three essays for La Famiglia and a 44-pager with two essays for The Flower Show.
Over the past 50 years, Sfirri has honed his craft and process, preferring to work in a spontaneous fashion instead of mapping things out at the beginning. For example, “The Ellis Islanders” was never intended to be a collection of 29 figures, but that’s the number that felt right to Sfirri when he reached it.
“I’m much more, what I term ‘big bang theory,’ which is, I can be going any direction any day of the week. I’ll do something for a while, and then it’s a total pivot to something else. And I like that, being more creative from piece to piece. That’s what really excites me,” he said, adding that, even with furniture, he’ll think about the joinery, but leave himself some space to design as he’s making the piece. “That’s something I do that’s a little on the unusual side. Most people think ideas completely through.”
Sfirri’s interest in art dates to childhood, when he could usually be found drawing “a lot more than your average kid.” After taking some classes at an art center in Delaware County, where he grew up, Sfirri joined an art program, run by Claude Falcone, at Penncrest High School in Media. This allowed him to develop a portfolio and be accepted into the Rhode Island School of Design. However, as a fan of everything from printmaking to photography, he wasn’t exactly sure which artistic path he wanted to take.
It was at the end of his first year that he stumbled across a woodshop on campus and fell in love with the craft. He knew that he had found his future career path. Following graduation, after working some time as a director of design and manufacturing at a furniture manufacturer in Rochester, New York, he applied to a teaching position at Bucks County Community College.
From 1981 to 2017, Sfirri taught about 20 different subjects, ranging from fine woodworking to drawing from observation, at the local college, all the while creating pieces for exhibitions, and writing about the history of design and furniture.
“I felt an obligation to be practicing my trade if I’m gonna be teaching it, and I felt that that really overlapped with my teaching. My teaching informed my making, and my making informed my teaching,” he said. “They really were a nice balance for me. Polar opposites from each other, but useful to the other one.”
With each student that he encountered during his tenure, Sfirri assessed them in two areas: ideas and design, and technical skill. Typically, students were stronger in one, so he’d push them more in the weaker area, allowing them to develop skills in both.
“My biggest thrill was to get students who were really excited and interested in the subject, and it made it really worthwhile as a teacher,” he said. “I’ve mentored many students well beyond their years at Bucks. To this day, I’m talking to students that I had 20, 30 years ago about their careers and what they’re up to, just mentoring them. So that’s really rewarding.”
La Famiglia runs at the Museum for Art in Wood, 141 N. 3rd St., Philadelphia, through Feb. 16, 2025. The Flower Show at the Michener Art Museum, 138 S. Pine St., Doylestown, runs Dec. 14, 2024-May 4, 2025.
Samantha Bambino can be reached at sbambino@newspapermediagroup.com
