140

Abysses by Alain Mailland

Currency:USD Category:Art / Medium - Sculptures Start Price:100.00 USD
Abysses by Alain Mailland
SOLD
2,700.00USDto floor+ applicable fees & taxes.
This item SOLD at 2015 Jun 26 @ 20:10UTC-4 : AST/EDT
All items in this auction were created, at least in part, on the wood lathe, with wood as the primary material. All are one-of-a-kind signed originals, individually created by the artist listed.
Lot #: 140
Abysses
Hackberry
19" X 14" X 14"

Alain Mailland
France

“All my work is based on the beauty of wood. I mainly use roots and species from my countryside because they are so colorful, and I need very fine burls to get these fragile pieces. I consider that there is a correspondence between all the species living on earth. For example, you can find animal or mineral shapes in roots and vegetable forms, and in stone or bones. We humans are linked with all things growing on the earth. That is what I feel when I make my sculptures. These creatures seem to be alive, because I first turn growing shapes, like flower shapes. I reproduce the expansion of a flower or all circular structures that you can find in the universe. For me the birth of these objects is the incarnation of a dream.”
Alain Mailland was born on the Ivory Coast and moved with his family back to France when he was five years old. From age twenty to twenty-two, he studied at the National Art School of Cergy-Pontoise. Although he worked as a mason and carpenter in building construction, it was not until he was twenty-eight that he took his first course in woodturning. He began his own shop specializing in interior woodworking: stairs, cabinetry and verandas. XXX In the early 1990’s, Mailland slowly changed his focus from interior carpentry to turning and has since done nothing but lathe work. Mailland soon developed his own distinctive style and technique, particularly in hollowing. He developed special tools to turn wood flowers, and then used this technique to turn and carve pieces like sea or natural creatures. He uses also off-centering techniques as long as steam bending, texturing and sandblasting. He began showing and selling his work at exhibitions and other craft venues. As his work matured, he continued learning, taking courses with other notable turners such as Andre Martel, Michael Hosaluk, and Terry Martin.

Estimated retail: 4000