“THE FLOWER SHOW”: Turned wood botanicals by Bucks County artist Mark Sfirri  are featured in an exhibition at the Michener Museum in Doylestown, Pa., through May 4.

Bucks County artist and woodworker Mark Sfirri’s first solo exhibition at the Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, Pa.,  displays an all-new springtime series, resulting from a two-year obsession with turned wood flowers. This garden of botanical creations is on view through May 4.

The concept for “Mark Sfirri: The Flower Show” emerged when the artist learned that his son’s wedding venue, the Museum for Art in Wood in Philadelphia, did not allow cut flowers at events in order to protect its collection from potential bugs, pests, and pollen. Sfirri decided to make the wedding flowers himself, creating a bouquet for the bride and a boutonniere for the groom. The preoccupation continued for years as he incorporated different exotic woods, painted elements, and produced more elaborate compositions.

Sfirri’s flowers dance on twisting brass stems and emerge in lively arrangements from custom-carved and turned bases. The artist is known for continually blurring the line that separates woodturning from sculpture. These floral sculptures convey a whole range of personalities and emotions, with accompanying titles like The Gossipers, Sibling Rivalry, and Des Patates de Divan (Couch Potatoes).

Selections of Sfirri’s work are already included in the permanent collection at the Michener Art Museum as part of its studio craft holdings. Sfirri’s humorous sculpture, Rejects from the Bat Factory, is displayed alongside pieces by American studio craft luminaries Wharton Esherick and George Nakashima.

“Mark considers objects and shapes that should be straightforward — bats, rolling pins, bottles, and table legs — and reimagines them as playful, strange, and unexpected,” said the Michener Art Museum’s Gerry and Marguerite Lenfest Chief Curator Laura Igoe. “His flowers display the artist’s characteristic sense of humor, whimsy, and experimentation evident in his previous bodies of work.”

Sfirri is professor emeritus at Bucks County Community College where he ran the Fine Woodworking Program from 1981 to 2017. He is the recipient of the Distinguished Educator Award from the Renwick Alliance (2010), the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Collectors of Wood Art (2012), and the Professional Outreach Program’s Merit Award from the American Association of Woodturners (2024). 

Sfirri received his BFA and MFA in furniture design at Rhode Island School of Design. His specialty is multi-axis spindle turning, an area that he has been exploring since the early 1990s. He has lectured and demonstrated his techniques throughout North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Norway. His work is included in the permanent collections of 28 public institutions.

The Michener Art Museum is at 138 South Pine Street in Doylestown, Pa. Hours are  Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The museum is open until 8 p.m. on the first Thursday of the month. Admission is free on the second Sunday of the month. For more information, visit michenerartmuseum.org.