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Artworks
Julian Watts
Free Standing 3, 2023Bleached Maple36.8 H x 14 W x 6.35 D cm /
14.5 H x 5.5 W x 2.5 D inFurther images
Description
Carving collection This collection of carvings creates a web of associations and references to nature both familiar and unfamiliar: flowers, insects, seed pods, human anatomy, as well as primitive tools, with the explicit intent that no one reference overpowers the others, allowing the viewer to become lost in the different forms, searching within themselves to make connections and discover meaning. The process originated with the collection and close examination of natural forms. In the corner of my shop I have a desk by big window that has become a kind of shrine/archive, where I amass dried flowers, seed pods, nuts, insects, spiders both dead and living, found objects, moss, sticks etc., and closely examine, dissect, organize, and display them. Then I process these forms through an intense amount of drawing , a loose abstract kind of drawing very much inspired by doodling: looping repetitive curves, allowing a subconscious rhythm to discover new and unexpected variations of these natural found forms. You can recognize this hand drawn, looping doodle line throughout the collection. These drawings are then transferred onto wood and adapted to work with the grain and character of the wood. The long and meticulous carving process allows for a deep and obsessive intimacy with these forms, an intimacy which in turn helps to inspire new ideas. While much of my current work has been on a larger scale (including the recent large outdoor bronze commission) I began my sculpture career creating collections of wooden spoons. This collection is a return to the process that birthed my creative practice, and a rediscovery of the endless potential that can be achieved even in small scale woodcarvings if you open your yourself to the beauty and strangeness of the natural world, and the worlds that are inside of us.
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