Robert Ressler is an artist that has gained notable recognition for his large-scale outdoor pieces created during a span of over twenty-five years. Dedicated to reaching out to the wide varied audience utilizing recreation areas and other public spaces, his carved wood commissions are often playful and representational in subject. The sculptures originate from trees felled by park forestry crews or disease, donated to the artist, who makes preliminary cuts with a chain saw and finishes the carving with hand tools. Other works follow a more somber direction leading towards abstraction, while retaining references to organic forms and objects.
Ressler was given a one-person show at Grounds For Sculpture in the spring of 1998, which featured Aluna and the wood version of Wave Hill. He has shown in other sculpture parks, such as the ones at the James A. Michener Museum in Doylestown, PA; DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MA; and at Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City, NY. Ressler has also been commissioned to create large-scale works for public parks and recreation areas. In 1990-1991, he was an artist in residence at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens, utilizing the park as an open air studio. Robert Ressler was also selected to design the Brooklyn Memorial for the victims of 9/11.