Tom Decker has never stopped being interested in art.

Decker sits serenely in the Robert Else Gallery in his clay-studded leather boots, a denim button-up and jeans. At a young age, Decker’s mother placed him in a Saturday morning ceramics class to keep him busy – and out of her hair. As Decker was encouraged in artistic pursuits, he participated in art classes in high school and in college and eventually received his bachelor’s degree in visual design from UC Berkeley in 1981 and his master’s from San Jose State University in 1995. According to the Sacramento State Faculty Bulletin, in 2008 he received a Fulbright Scholarship to go to the Philippines, where he “conducted research and lectured on the gestural dynamic in figurative ceramic and cross-cultural influences of contemporary ceramic artists.”

Decker has also traveled to Korea multiple times in the past four years. His current work, displayed in the Else gallery, was a combination of his reaction to his experiences traveling as well as articulating his experiences in during the last eight months of creating the pieces. Decker said he did not create the pieces with any idea other than to enjoy the creation of the pieces themselves. Yet as the sculptures were constructed, they took on meanings of their own, becoming “gestural portraits” of family members, situations and places in Decker’s life.

Since traveling abroad, Decker said he draws his inspiration from “experiences outside of American culture have compelled me to go beyond the traditional expectations of Western art, and I wouldn’t have seen how restricted I was within Western art had I not gone abroad.”

The structures in the Else gallery are made of colorful terra cotta on pedestals. Slabs of fired terra cotta are placed together, balancing, pushing, and floating into each other. The pieces are reminiscent of weathered colorful buildings that have decayed over time. Decker said the colors used remind him of the Philippines – a vibrant and stimulating environment.

“Students and faculty alike need to know one another better within the context of their art,” said faculty member Pattaratorn Chirapravati, a member of the curatorial staff in the art department.

She said she had been working with Tom Decker for many years but has never really come in close contact with his work

“I know Tom much better,” Chirapravati said. “Art reflects the person. I can see the intimate relationships Tom has with his family.”

Chirapravati also wants students to know their teachers.

“Students are often curious about their teacher’s work. Students and faculty need to see the kind of people who are on this campus,” Chirapravati said.

Alyse Waiker, junior studio art major, said two-dimensional artists and two-dimensional artists need to experience each other’s work.

“We need to see how people see differently from us,” Waiker said.