APRIL UNBLURRED: On the Flesh of Trees
Wood Burning and Laser Cutting
In all forms of art involving wood there is great potential for creativity and depth. Wood seems to speak for itself, and each type of tree has a different character which is expressed through the color of the wood, its relative hardness and texture, the pattern of its burl, and even its scent.
An artist used to working in this medium becomes accustomed to the different characteristics of each tree and develops these qualities into opportunities for expression of beauty which emerge through the alchemy of the creative process. While many pieces begin with a plan, often the grain and knots of the wood influence the flow and proportions of a finished design.
The current exhibition at Artisan Gallery showcases a local artist who channels her inspiration via the art of wood burning.
Erica Brown has been creating art in a variety of mediums for much of her life. For the past two years, her focus has shifted into this mode of expression.
This showing of burned wood plays with surrealist influences. It contemplates the shifting of humanity into something else; a transformation not unlike the mutation of the wood beneath the heat of the wood burning tool, which becomes a mirror of nature reflecting the creative process. Is the metamorphosis of the subject a form of transcendence? Perhaps it is an immanent emergence of a higher form – or maybe it is the recognition of something alien altogether. That remains to be discerned by the careful observer.
Also currently on display at Artisan is the phenomenal laser cut marquetry of Naked Geometry.
Born from the fusion of the laser with exotic woods, these exquisite pieces capture ones attention instantly.
James Gyre is inspired by the deep mathematics of the Pythagoreans, the insights of quantum mechanics, the ideas of Buckminster fuller, and the sacred patterns of Islamic mysticism and Celtic knot work. His art is like a visual meditation upon the deep structures underlying all of Nature’s manifold forms.
Fans of Nathan Mould’s art will likely also become enamored of these revelations, and in the Artisan Boutique we have both artwork and jewelry from Naked Geometry available for purchase.
