This has been a true labor of love - perfect for the Valentine’s month. Here is my entry for The Arbortech 2019 “Power Carving Madness” Contest.

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I was inspired to carve this project from an image I had seen a few years ago in a book (“Super-Modified: the Behance Book of Creative Work), and the artists from the Bonsoir Paris design studio featured their wooden carved sculptures. Starting with what looks like a traditional picture frame, the artists manipulated the wood to emulate the frames melting right off the wall. I had wanted to recreate something like for myself for the past couple of years and figured this power carving challenge was the perfect opportunity to give it a go. 

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Using 1/2” Baltic Birch plywood – a 30” x 60” sheet – I created a basic picture frame and then added plywood elements to be carved along with the frame. You can listen to my analyzation of the project throughout the video and how I would approach this differently the next time around, especially when working with a material that costs more that sheet plywood (bubinga, anyone?). This was a successful first attempt at creating a sculpture similar to the inspiration pieces, and I definitely learned what to improve for the next one. I also like how the layers of plywood are slowly revealed as you carve through the piece, which emphasizes the depth – although after looking at the completed piece, I think this needs MORE depth to really emphasize the melted/dripping idea.

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Hats off to the artists/creators at Bonsoir Paris for their beautiful work and especially to the painstaking hours I’m sure it take to create the original pieces. Truly works of art. You can find more information about their studio on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/bonsoir_paris/
Also attributed in the Behance book is Adrien Coroller (https://www.behance.net/adriencoroller)
And the Behance book in case you’re interested: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/3899555384/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_r-WDCb86XC0XX

Information about Arbortech can be found here: https://www.instagram.com/arbortechie/

 

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Hopefully this gives you some insight on how to create one of these for yourself. Please like and subscribe to the YouTube channel and share the video with your friends. Every little like and share helps keep me in the shop.