Found Objects, Lasting Art: Inside Jud Turner's Oblivion Factory
A Eugene-born sculptor turns scrap metal and everyday castoffs into works that have become a permanent part of the community he grew up in.
Art Made from What Others Set Aside
Jud Turner works in welded steel and found objects, pulling materials out of their original context and giving them a second life as sculpture. The raw ingredients might be recycled metal, model parts, or something as ordinary as silverware chosen simply for an interesting shape. Nothing is predetermined to be art, and that is exactly the point.
Born Here, Building Here
Turner was born and raised in Eugene, went to school here, and still works here. For him, having permanent public works placed in areas that were personally meaningful is a source of real pride, a way of giving something back to the place that shaped him.
“I'm really proud to have pieces of my art be part of the community in a very literal sense, to have permanent works of public art placed in areas that were meaningful to me personally.”
Jud Turner, sculptor and founder of The Oblivion Factory
What Keeps a Creative Person Here
Turner values the size of Eugene's community and what he calls a vibrant arts community, a place where people across many different fields are passionate about what they do. Those overlapping traditions, he says, are what make it a special place to live.