The Work of Chris Barela
Gallery D'May
Chris Barela's love for the water has been life long. Growing up at the beach and becoming a pro surfer allowed Chris to travel the world. At the peak of Chris's surfing career he had made it into the finals at the Banzai Pipeline Masters.
Having traveled the world's oceans Chris retired from professional surfing however, he still wanted to stay connected, that connection inspired him to create his first line of bronze sculptures, an amazingly life like collection of big game fish. Barela studied with master patinaer & created the original formulas used to create his signature look today.
Barela's passion for nature is the driving force behind his art …Chris's talents are not limited to bronze sculptures, he excels at photography and filmmaking and recently was awarded first place in the Hawaii Ocean Film Festival for his short film on octopus.
It is with out question that Barela has become one of the worlds best sculptors/patina artist, which grants him the honor of being one of the most influential artist of today.