chriswoodartist

CHILDHOOD : At one time I wanted to be a full time practising sculptor. As a young child I remember being encouraged by my parents not only to paint but to make things with wood. Many parents (myself included)  would be nervous about letting a child loose with sharp tools but you soon learn to keep your fingers behind the blade !

GENES : I was about 12 when I made my first piece of real sculpture and sculpting is in my genes. My great grandfather, W D GOUGH was an ecclesiastical sculptor who has work in the V&A museum and many towns and cities. He made a lot of war memorials including the large one in Cardiff.

I like working with my hands and using traditional craft skills to produce something unique. I also like the sensory appeal of a well finished surface. I’ll add a photograph of some of my tools later – suffice to say I have accumulated a large collection.

FORM is something I learnt to appreciate as a young child and I can remember going around boatyards and my father becoming quite animated when describing the form or lines of a particular classic boat.

PROJECT : Chris Wood Digging away with mallet and gouge ! Getting rid of the rot and trying to make sense of what’s left of a fine lump of Cedar ! I was given this 6’ piece of wood by the caretaker at St Vincent College in Gosport, where I used to teach. It was a dead tree, forming part of the perimeter of the former Fleet Air Arm establishment.

The piece has proved a challenge from the start – not least because several pieces of barbed wire were enmeshed in the surface of the timber and had to be dug out first. The tree had grown around the wire and whilst I’ve removed most of them several sharp pieces remain, making life fun lugging it in and out of the shed.

NB This is another long term project that has to be finished before much longer or it may finish me ! I keep hauling it out of the shed every summer and not getting very far. Then it goes back to slumber for the winter until the following year. I blame restoring and maintaining a wooden boat and still teaching !

“Shipping Lines” (1996) Scaffold Poles, Spinnaker Nylon, Nylon Rope, etc 9x5metres.  I collaborated with fellow ArtSpace member Janice Shales to make the piece for an ArtSpace exhibition in The Square Tower in Old Portsmouth. When I was up in the apex, dismantling it, 9 metres seemed a long way from the floor – thankfully – I’m not a scaffolder ! That said – I was for a weekend. It was originally designed to be temporarily placed on the roof but the planning department were nervous so it took centre stage inside.

Nowadays, I much prefer to use natural materials and no longer make installations.

I enjoy using hand tools (unless I am working on a very large piece) as power tools take away a lot of the control that you have when you have a gouge in one hand and a mallet in the other. I primarily carve wood to make my abstract pieces, where the quest is the interplay between one form and another.

The process of making can be extra ordinarily time consuming but that is part of the joy of making – you can totally loose yourself. Sometimes I have a pre-conceived idea for a piece of sculpture and sometimes I develop and adapt my what I’m working on as I go. I draw throughout the process either on a scrap of paper or with chalk on the sculpture itself. I think there are two types of people – those that think in 3D and those that don’t – fortunately I am in the former group and I don’t have any issues doing reverse parking either !

I spent many years exploring and teaching figurative sculpture, modelling portrait busts first in clay, then casting them in cement fondue and glass fibre. I like the natural colours of the materials I use. However, sometimes it’s good to apply coloured stains, paints or metallic finishes.

Sometimes I combine other materials with wood as can be seen below with “Wave-train” and “Not Blinking but Sinking”.

COMMENT : please feel free to comment on the work or the processes involved

“Wavetrain”  Pitch Pine, Briwax and Stainless Steel. © chriswoodartist all rights reserved 2012 price on application

“Not Blinking but Sinking” Willow, Lead, Copper Nails, Briwax, Painted MDF & Mirror Tiles. © chriswoodartist all rights reserved. price on application

“Bawdsey Manor” Pitch Pine, Eucalyptus, Danish Wood Oil and Beeswax. © chriswoodartist all rights reserved 2012. Inspired by the early warning radar dishes at former RAF Bawdsey, Suffolk UK. price on application

“In Irons” Brazilian and African Mahogany, Danish Wood oil, Marble. © chriswoodartist all rights reserved 2012. price on application

“Raedwald 2” English Oak, Danish Wood Oil, Beeswax. © chriswoodartist all rights reserved. price on application

The piece was inspired by the Anglo Saxon burial mounds in Sutton Hoo in Suffolk. The depression represents that of a Saxon longship, the remains of which were buried since the 7th century. Just across the river Deben In Woodbridge, a full size replica of the 90’ boat is being made on the site of the former boatyard that built my classic boat back in 1938.

“An Unguarded Moment in the Life of Peter Palmer” Plaster, Gold Leaf, Graphite Powder, Canvas Bag. © chriswoodartist all rights reserved 2012.
This piece was part of an exhibition at Portsmouth City Museum & Art Gallery, where Art Space artists were asked to produce “interventions” with existing exhibits. A life size ceramic piece of Peter Palmer sits on a black donkey easel, with a painting by Bridget Riley in the background. I added the plaster Jack Russel dog, (making off with Peter’s lunch) plaster sandwiches and canvas bag.

“Acromium” English Oak, Tallow, Beeswax. © chriswoodartist all rights reserved 2012 : price on application The title comes from human anatomy – the acromium is the bony protrusion at the top of the shoulder.

“Grapeshot” Laburnham, Yew, Jellutong, Ash, Sycamore, Yacht Varnish, Nylon, Brass eyes. © chriswoodartist all rights reserved 2012.

Price on Application.

“Ilex Aquifolium” Holly, English Oak, Danish Wood Oil & Beeswax. Overall Height 775 mm Width of oak base 178 mm © chriswoodartist all rights reserved 2012. Price on Application.