Wood Carving Artists

Louise Nevelson made monuments from found wood: assemblages of crates, chair legs, turned spindles, columns and door panels. She assembled all the loose parts into architectural installations and painted them matte black. The Centre Pompidou in Metz (France) shows her ‘monuments’ this year (2026). Rain […]

First primitive art, then Western art, then tourist souvenir. This is how one of the most popular wooden tourist souvenirs from Bali came full circle; that of the weeping Buddhist monk. Left the ‘Crouching Figure’ by André Derain, right the wooden ‘Weeping Monk’ from Bali.

Louise Bourgeois carved seven eggs in wood and called them ‘Gathering Wool’. That is an English expression that stands for ‘the wandering of the mind’. Daydreaming. Floating mentally. Bourgeois used this state of mind in her studio to evoke ideas. Louise Bourgeois carved seven eggs

Olafur Eliasson made a compass from driftwood, washed ashore on a beach in Iceland. He called his artwork Climate Justice Navigator. The Climate Justice Navigator (2018), a real compass made of driftwood. Since the nineties, Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson (1967) has conquered a special position

Arne Tjomsland started mass production of wooden animal figures: his polar bear souvenirs saw orders of 500 pieces at a time. Also beautifully stylized was his arctic musk ox. Not sanded smooth, but with a pattern of delicate stripes suggesting the thick fur. Thick leather

Katrien Doms’ tormented landscape is created by burning the top layer of wooden panels. She creates deserted plains, dried-up waterfalls and charred fields. Katrien Doms’ tormented landscape Water-Fall. Katrien Doms (1977, Belgium) is one of the visual artists who has specialized in wooden objects that

Ed Elliott burned an angel. That is to say: the top layer, the skin of the wooden sculpture. He turned this effect into a recognizable style feature. The annual rings in the wood that emerged through fire give his ‘burned’ sculptures an extra natural dimension

Yuhao Zhu designed the wooden cuddle chair HUG, the Hug Chair. The chair functions as a physical embrace, an invitation to become a tree hugger. A wooden chair to embrace: the HUG by Yuhao Zhu. The young unknown Chinese designer Yuhao Zhu designed a chair

Barbara Hepworth and her spiritual circles will always remain connected. The round holes in her wooden sculptures offer a glimpse into sacred landscapes. Not only on earth but also a view of the sun, the moon and the universe. Barbara Hepworth and her spiritual circle,

Adriaen van Wesel worked under his own name. Because of this he remained known, while virtually all his colleagues from the late Middle Ages have remained anonymous. They worked as ‘nameless’ sculptors in the workshops of ‘masters’. Adriaen van Wesel worked under his own name.