Artwork Details

Title: Binary Wall/Datum Line
Artist: Clay Jensen
Year: 2026
Media: Cast bronze, patina

Physical Description of Work

The sculpture is comprised of 3 cast bronze panels, each 80” tall with varying widths ranging from 36” to 18.” The panels are upright and placed in a straight line with space between each panel. The piece reflects the relationship of positive and negative spaces.

The location of the sculpture is in front of the Blue Oak Condominiums (950 Hough Ave). Each panel is fastened to stainless steel mounting brackets on a concrete footing using stainless hardware. The panels have a very textured surface and may be touched carefully with the hand. The panels vary in temperature from warm to cold depending on the outside light and temperature. They are dark in color using a patina on the surface. The panels have individual lighting and landscaping that unite the sculpture with the site.

Artist Statement            

Clay Jensen considers his work to be introspective and humanistic. The environment is core to his work and reflects imagery that tells stories about past memories, emotions, and locations. For Jensen, the environment is core to his vision. He is immersed in the idea of landscapes –– natural, rural, and industrial. It can be read as a visual diary with personal observations documenting the changing perceptions of life. The minimal nature of the work highlights the imposition of people and their impact on the land. 

Jensen’s work can be read as a visual diary with personal observations documenting his changing perceptions of urban life. As the environment of the Bay area changed and the urban industrial era has waned, Jensen’s work has also changed. He has always felt that less is more. He is interested in minimal surfaces to accentuate the simple shapes and surfaces of the work. There is poetry in the simple, quiet forms that are complex in nature but reduced, like haiku, to the minimal amount of information.

Clay Jensen lives in Lafayette, California and has been studying, teaching, and practicing art for over 50 years. He has an extensive mixed media background but has worked primarily in bronze casting and steel fabrication. He is a professor emeritus from the California College of the Arts where he taught for more that 35 years. Jensen has a BFA from the University of Utah and MA and MFA from UC Berkeley. He also taught at San Jose State University, the University of Montana, UC Berkeley, and the University of Utah. He received a National Endowment for the Arts apprenticeship grant and the SECA Award from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA). His work has been published and reviewed extensively in major periodicals and has been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the United States. His work is in private and public collections around the world.  

Clay is a current owner and partner of The Dome Studios in Oakland, California. The Dome aims to nurture new works by artists, musicians, and dancers. It was originally conceived by Peter Voulkos in 1976.

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