Tuesday, May 16, 2023

Supple Patterns Illuminate Bold Volumes in Oliver Chalk’s Sophisticated Wooden Vessels

A carved wooden vessel.

Detail of a vessel from the ‘Pathways’ series. All images © Oliver Chalk, shared with permission

Hewn from solid hunks of found timber, Oliver Chalk’s vessels (previously) embrace the natural grain and gradients of different types of wood to reveal voluminous functional sculptures. Using remnants of fallen trees like ash, cypress, maple, and cherry, Chalk hand-carves bold ribs and lines redolent of contours on topographic maps. He takes cues from the distinctive characteristics of each piece of wood, responding to the specimen’s unique texture, hardness, hue, and innate patterns. Maple burl, for example, which is a growth in the tree’s bark that creates dense, swirling, eye-like motifs, led to an elegant piece peppered with small holes and knots.

Chalk has been working with timber for about three years, teaching himself various techniques and experimenting with different types of wood. He has just been awarded funding from the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust—an initiative that supports British craftspeople through education and apprenticeships—to explore new terrain: bronze. This fall, he embarks on a training program at SPACER with artist and foundry manager Stephen Melton to learn bronze casting and patinating techniques to recreate his thrown vessels in metal.

Chalk’s work is included in the group exhibition Earth Materials at Gallery 57 in Arundel, West Sussex, through June 10 and Spring Collection ’23 at The Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden in Ockley, Surrey. Find more on his website and on Instagram.

 

A carved wooden vessel.

Detail of a vessel from the ‘Earth Materials’ series

Nine images of carved wooden vessels.

‘Earth Materials’ collection

A carved wooden vessel.

Warped maple burl vessel

A carved wooden vessel.

Charred surface on cypress

A photo of a wooden vessel being made in the studio.

Cypress vessel in progress

Two details of wooden vessels' textures.

Left: Sycamore vessel. Right: Detail of textured ash vessel

Two wooden vessels.

Vessels “One” and “Two” in the Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden Spring/Summer 2023 collection

A carved wooden vessel.

Cherry vessel

A carved wooden vessel.

Ash vessel

A carved wooden vessel.

Detail of vessel “One” in the Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden Spring/Summer 2023 collection

Wood being turned in the studio.

Roughing out a large cypress vessel

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Supple Patterns Illuminate Bold Volumes in Oliver Chalk’s Sophisticated Wooden Vessels appeared first on Colossal.



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