Wood; and controlled breaking
I fell in love with wood the moment I picked up the chisel and started hacking away at the wood. The more I chipped off, the more I felt that I started to understand about the piece of wood that I was working with. Each piece of wood has a different set of fibres, laid out in a different geometry and composition. Chiselling away at the wood sometimes felt like a conversation, as if to say:
“I will chisel off this much wood”
and the piece responding with
“sure! I’ll even give you a bit more wood”
or
“nah! you aren’t chiselling anything!”
Maybe the anthropomorphic qualities that I have placed on the wood that I work with have been was a result of being influenced by the idea that the piece used to be part of a living, breathing being.