Bronze and wood are the elements of Larry Fourmet’s sculpture “Babel.” Contributed Photo

Super-sized wooden screws protrude from a sandbox tucked into a corner of the Coos Art Museum. Within a locked display case, leaves of beaten silver chase polished stones around a necklace, and, just steps away, a block of bronze-inlayed wood rises to meet the visitor’s gaze at eye level.

Welcome to the Bay Area Artists Association Regional Juried Exhibition, where sculpture sets a brisk pace and paintings, photographs and textile art take victory laps around the walls of the museum’s Maggie Karl Gallery.

The 85 works presented by the BAAA were selected from more than 350 submissions, garnered from 18 Oregon counties. The show continues at CAM through Feb. 16, and features an array of media with especially impressive sculptural offerings.

Larry Fourmet of North Bend brought “Babel,” a block of carved and incised wood inlayed with angular pieces of bronze. The shape is a tower, the feeling is primitive. In some places the bronze has been polished to a weapon-like gleam, and in others, it glows blue-green within its verdigris: chemistry on top of alloy on top of wood, locked forever in stationary conversation.

Grants Pass sculptor Cindy Kahoun won spots for two of her mixed media pieces: “Thou Art in Heaven” and “Super Tramp.” She uses twisted and painted, heavy gauge wire to create human forms. The sculptures are scaled to one-third size, but their movements and emotions are decidedly larger than life. If Kahoun’s wire people emote, it’s Mike Holm’s boat that dreams.

“Lady Shirlune” is a digital photograph of a boat out of water. North Bend artist Mike Holm captured the tired-looking vessel as it lay, beached on a pebble-strewn shingle, abandoned and solitary. Then, he played with the image.

Swimming in a wide arc above the mast of the Lady Shirlune, five gloriously golden fish fill an improbably blue sky. Holm’s school of dream fish are the focus of the photo. They turn and thrash, eyes wide, mouths ready to take the hook. They are the reason the Lady Shirlune was built. They are why she took to the water.

Holm’s golden fish animate this piece with a wild and mythic presence, in stark and significant contrast with the fishing boat’s chipped and peeling paint, its cardboard “for sale” sign, its air of sad neglect. The photo is strong and holds its place in the BAAA show; to see more of Mike Holm’s work this season, visit the High Tide Café in Charleston. Also impressive is “Dress Circle,” an acrylic by Robin R. Jenkins of Coos Bay. It’s neat and polished, a painting that uses green/red contrast to play with depth, and serves as a warm welcome to abstract art.

Two collages composed of paper, paintings, and postage stamps are offered by Judith M. Sander, of Philomath. Tiny beads and buttons punctuate the artworks, which are effectively mounted within old fashioned shadow boxes.

Sander uses small, detailed postage stamps to tell her story. In “Madonna Shares Her Existence,” the artist features a “Republic of Argentina” stamp, evoking images of “Evita.” Appropriately, she also uses a two-cent, “Freedom to Speak” stamp from the USA. The collage shows a woman reclining on a chaise lounge, covered by wisps of net, with one high-buttoned boot clad foot waving gracefully in the air.

Madonna, in her shadow box, is pushing the envelope of her medium. It’s easy to imagine her discontent with this two-dimensional reality. She should sit up, jump down, and explore the rest of the show. She could mess with the sandbox, share a laugh with “Super Tramp,” and as for the sculpture of “Babel”? I think she’d stand there and sing.

The BAAA offers monthly programs, educational opportunities, and produces exhibitions and gallery shows. More information is available at http://www.baaa.us.

Teri Albert reviews art and artists for the Ballyhoo! page of The World. Comments on or story ideas for this column are welcome, and can be e-mailed to malbert@uci.net.