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Botanical Muse, 2023-25copper with patina, limestone base74 x 21.5 x 15 inches
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EACH SCULPTURE IS A STUDY IN CONTRASTS:
rigid yet fluid
abstract yet figurative
grounded yet ethereal.
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Known for transforming bronze and copper into evocative, figurative forms, the Bay Area sculptor continues to explore the intricate dialogue between humans and the natural world. In his third exhibition at Scott Richards Contemporary Art, Archer weaves together botanical elements, mythological allegory, and religious symbolism to address the delicate ways humans are bound to—and shaped by—nature.
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Tor Archer Book of Hours, 2018 book covers, copper, steel, wood, bone, gold leaf, silver leaf, acrylic paint, 65.5 x 17 x 3 inches
THE BOOK OF HOURS
"This PARTICULAR WORK draws inspiration from the medieval Book of Hours, a richly illuminated manuscript created for private devotion. Much like those personalized texts, which combined sacred imagery with individual reflection, my work reimagines thE tradition as a contemporary devotional object. The imagery here reflects my own artistic interests and areas of personal reverence, serving as both a meditation on nature and a continuation of the manuscript’s legacy of intimate, contemplative art."
TOR ARCHER
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TOR ARCHER: NATURAL INFLUENCE
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“Everybody needs beauty...places to play in and pray in where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul alike.”
― John Muir -
Tor ArcherForest Prayer Book, 2024book covers, copper, steel, gold leaf, silver leaf18 x 12 x 2 inches
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Tor ArcherTree in Hand II, 2025Cast bronze, fabricated copper, patina, marble base15 x 7.5 x 3.5 inches
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Shinrin-yoku / Forest Bathing
A meditation on stillness and presence, this copper and bronze wall installation reflects the essence of shinrin-yoku/ “forest bathing,” the Japanese practice of SPIRITUAL renewal THROUGH COMMUNING WITH nature.
stylized trees and figurative imagery, suggest harmony between humans and the natural world and the subtle transformations that occur when we allow nature to heal us.
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READ THE interview with the artist
In former Hunters Point submarine barracks, Tor Archer hammers out the feminine form
by Mary Corbin for 48hills.org
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“In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.”
—Aristotle
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WATCH THE VIDEO
Tor Archer
Solitary July 20, 2016 -
BIOGRAPHY
ARTIST BIOTor Archer has lived and worked in San Francisco since 1988, maintaining his studio at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. He received his BA from UC Santa Cruz and his MFA from Boston University’s School for the Arts and has been nominated for the SECA Award at SFMOMA as well as other honors an is the recipient of the INSITE Award, the Walnut Creek Public Art Award, and the People’s Choice Award at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco. Archer has exhibited widely across the United States, Japan and Europe, and has participated in international residencies in Vietnam at the Muong Cultural Museum and the Danang Sculpture Foundation. Recent exhibitions include The Iconic Figure at the Peninsula Museum of Art in San Bruno, with upcoming solo presentations at Scott Richards Contemporary Art in San Francisco (September 2025) and Gallery Yuki-Sis in Tokyo (October 2025).
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EXHIBITION VIEWS
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“I hope people might come away with an impression of the connection between the human and natural world”
TOR ARCHER
VIEW THE ARTIST PAGE
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