Wood

About

Wood is light, strong for its weight and easy to carve, but it moves with humidity, splits along the grain and can rot or be eaten by insects, so it depends on careful seasoning and joinery. Each species brings its own colour and figure, from pale lime and birch to dark walnut and ebony.

Egyptian tomb figures, Japanese Buddhist statues assembled from joined blocks, and the limewood altarpieces of Tilman Riemenschneider in Germany around 1500 show carving at its most refined. Sculptors across West and Central Africa carved masks and figures for ceremony and kingship. Constantin Brancusi hewed rough oak forms, and Louise Nevelson painted assembled scraps of wood black. In furniture, George Nakashima let the natural slab lead the design, while Wendell Castle stacked and carved laminated wood into flowing shapes. Look for grain, tool marks, joints and the patina of handling.