Wood Sculpture

My 3 Wood Sculptures

So my Wood Sculpture class is moving right along and we've already finished our first project. Our assignment was to take three 8 foot 2x4's and turn each one into a sculpture. It was very much an exploratory "get to know the material" kind of project. Also, we were supposed to kind of start with little or no plan of what the final piece would be and just play with the wood. It was fun and this is what I came up with.

My favorite is the one in front in the pic above. It makes me think about how complex chaotic organic forms can arise from such ordered and structured building blocks such as atoms and molecules. As Ray (my teacher) said, the possibility of the larger more complex form exists in the individual building block. If that individual piece followed a different set of rules, everything would change. I think that's cool to think about.

I also kind of like the one on the wall. I started by ripping the 2x4 into small strips, but I had no idea what the final piece would be. Even as I began setting it up I didn't know what it would be, and it changed over the course of the installation. It ended up being an experimental piece about how much tension the wood can take before snapping. While setting it up, I was almost meditating, trying to find that edge of maximum tension.

One of the really cool things about this class is that there are only 6 students (my clay class also has only 6 students) so it's much more personal and conducive to good conversation. Our crit on Wednesday was really cool, and because only half the class was going that day, we spent a lot of time talking about each piece, getting way off topic and coming full circle.

Ray also made another interesting point. Because we didn't have a plan, the end result was made possible by each decision we made throughout the process. One different decision could have taken us down a whole different path of possibilities. As he said, he's been giving this assignment for 20 years and no one has ever done the same exact project.