The Wooden People of Bruno Walpoth

As I've said before on this blog, I'm not a huge fan of hyper-realistic art. I can't see the point of it. It seems to me that hyper-realism gets people focusing on the technique rather than the artwork and that, for me, means that what we're applauding is physical skill rather than human expression. However, I love art that is almost realistic; art where you can see the brush strokes and the chisel marks. That adds a textural element to the work and also shows me something of the artist and what was in their head. For that reason, I can't help but be wowed by the life-sized wooden sculptures of Bruno Walpoth.

I love the use of semi-transparent paints and glazes that let the wood grain and the imperfections shine through. Each sculpture seems very warm and alive.

More of his work on his website here.

The Gigantic Plywood Art of Henrique Oliveira

Take some old plywood strips and stain them with wood stain. Then start sticking them together. Eventually you might end up with artwork as awesome as this.

Brazilian artist Henrique Oliveira uses salvaged wood collected from the streets of São Paulo to create massive scale, site-specific installations with dense layers that twist, curve, bend, and split. Oliveira uses tapumes - which in Portuguese can mean fencing, boarding, or enclosure - as a title for many of his large-scale installations. Henrique's breakthrough occurred when he was a student at the University of São Paulo, where for two years the view from his studio window was a wooden construction fence. Over time Oliveira began to see the deterioration of the wood and its separation into multiple layers and colours. One week before the final student show opened, the construction was finished and the worn out plywood fence was discarded.

Discovered here.

The Secret Carpentry of Maskull Lasserre

This will bow your mind. It blew mine.

Canadian artist Maskull Lasserre takes everyday wooden objects and carves into them, creating the most extraordinary works of art. Look ... just a normal chair and an axe with maybe a bit of woodworm, right?

Look closer ...

... and closer still.

Amazing eh? Have a look at a few more.

That might seem like a waste of a perfectly good piano or axe to some but, according to Lasserre, his work is a demonstration of how once something ceases to be it becomes something else: ' When the remnants of life are imposed on an object, and that’s true especially with the carving work that I do, it infers a past history or a previous life that had been lived, so again where people see my work as macabre, I often see it as hopeful, as the remnants of a life. Despite the fact that the life has ended, at least that life had a beginning and middle as well, so often by imparting these bodily elements to inanimate objects it reclaims or reanimates them in a virtual way.'

Nope. Me neither. But I love the work.

See more here at Viralnova or his personal website here.

The astonishing wood sculptures of Dan Webb

Dan Webb is something very special. I find it hard just to draw or paint cloth. Webb does it in wood. 

 

 

 

 

 

There are a few more of his extraordinary artworks here (He doesn't just do cloth, believe me). Or visit his gallery here. You will be AMAZED. Here's a taster ...

 

Wood you believe it?

Would you spend $25,000 dollars on this?

Or this maybe?

How about if I tell you that they are sculptures, carved from a single block of wood and meticulously painted? No, really, they are. New York artist Randall Rosenthal starts with a single block of wood and turns it into these amazing sculptures. Here's one he made earlier:

Isn't that extraordinary? Here are a couple more. It's really hard to believe that what you're looking it is a single piece of carved wood isn't it? The quality of his painting is wonderful too.

Want to see more? Visit his site here. He also does amazing wall sculptures and architectural objects. Worth a visit!

The wooden clocks of Bruce Aitken

Now these really are beautiful. I was lucky enough to meet Bruce at this year's giant craft fair at Stonor Park, Oxfordshire and to see his clocks up close. Every part is hand carved and they keep perfect time.

You can see more and in greater detail on his website.