The Tea Pot Man

By Michael Moreau, Khayl Williamson, and James McEchron

As the weather takes a detour, new creatures emerge from the dark registers of the imagination, curious beings never seen in our tangible world. Twisted animals, abstract representations of human form and other bewildering sculptures are now packed wall to wall in the Visual Arts Gallery. And at the helm of the freakshow is Darrell Holbrook, a much more modest man than his pieces might suggest.

“I started sculpting when I quit smoking 10 years ago,” said Holbrook, surrounded by his creations. “It began as a hobby and it exploded from there.”

Holbrook’s pieces, which are available for purchase, seem out of place in the gallery, whose plain white walls stand in contrast to the other worldly sculptures.

One piece, a figure clad in a fashionable black suit jacket and a brown dress, has a tea pot for a head. “I started taking a ceramics class and they were making teapots,” said Holbrook. “The teapot head is really just for fun. The line of ceramics with the heads was done around the same time as the teapot guy so I just started experimenting with different heads. The set consists of about six pieces.”

Mr. Tea Pot is one of around 50 sculptures laid out in the Visual Arts Gallery. Some of Mr. Tea Pot’s companions include Tortoise Taxi, a hare holding on for dear life to the back of a tortoise. The sculpture is a twist on the classic children’s story, The Tortoise and the Hare.

A few feet away, bathing in the rays cast from the lights above, a female satyr (half goat, half human) stands tall. She appears confident and firm in her stance. She is a mystical creature aptly titled Equal Right’s Movement.

Toilet Head may very well be Mr. Tea Pot’s brother or close relative. The name says it all.

The pieces have a strange history. “They used to all be hanging on my bedroom wall. It feels very bare in there right now,” said Holbrook. “I had to quit making the head sculptures because I’m out of room.”

Holbrook began sculpting to quit smoking, but what started as a hobby has taken hold as an obsession. “Sculpting is fun. Sometimes I’ll spend an hour on a piece, and sometimes I’ll get really into it and spend 15 hours. But it’s always fun.”

The Art of Darrell Holbrook will be on display Oct. 2 - 27 in the Visual Arts Gallery. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Thursday. And on Fridays, catch a peek of Mr. Tea Pot and his friends from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. An artist reception is slated Oct. 13 from 6 to 8:30 p.m.