CSCC, Columbus, OH.

11.5′ x 14′ x 20′

Bronze

2000

Elijah Pierce, a renowned wood carver, preacher, and barber, was born in 1892 and became one of America’s most influential self-taught artists. The youngest child of two formerly enslaved people, Pierce spent his youth on his family’s farm in Baldwyn, Mississippi, carving animals from wood with a simple pocketknife. As an adult, he worked as both a barber and a minister, though he gained national recognition for his prolific carvings of biblical scenes.

In 1982, just two years before his death, his artistic achievements and cultural impact were honored with a prestigious National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. His home and barbershop were located on the northeast side of Columbus. The two-room shop he built in 1954 at 534 East Long Street served both as a gallery to display his carvings and as a place to fulfill his ministry.

The sculpture portrays Pierce deep in concentration. From one angle, he appears to be praying; from another, he is seen carving with his pocketknife. Because Pierce was both a wood carver and a minister, this dual posture reflects the spiritual and artistic devotion that defined his life.

Beside the figure, an ethereal cloak hovers, evoking the biblical story of the prophet Elijah, whose mantle was passed on as a symbol of divine calling. Beneath the cloak, the faint impression of a barber’s stool references the seat and cloth Pierce would have used in his shop. Leaning against the cloak is a staff inscribed with scripture—one of Pierce’s own artistic mediums.

Behind him, a large open book bears the inscription, “Elijah, your life is a book and every day is a page.” The book also alludes to his renowned large-scale plywood sculpture, carved with biblical passages and bound along the spine with giant rings.

These layered symbols woven throughout the sculpture speak to Pierce’s multifaceted relationship with religion, art, and daily life. The statue itself stands 10 feet tall and rests on two 8-inch risers.