Subtraction

Week 2

Brief: Create an artwork using subtraction as the primary for of art-making

Wooden Wobble

Materials: Ply wood

43.5cm x 20cm

Inspirational Artist

Ricky Swallow

Killing Time (2003-2004)

laminated Jelutong, maple

108.0 x 184.0 x 118.0 cm

Wooden Wobble

The wooden wobble was an artwork of pure subtraction, using sawing, carving and sanding to take areas of the origional plank of plywood away. The only additive process was the linseed oil I used to polish the finished artwork.

Initially I was using a routing tool to carve away the intertwining lines on the plank but after deciding that it was not looking how I wanted it to, I re-approached the task from a different angle.

The idea was always to transform the hard unforgiving material into something soft with suggestions of motion; through subtracting the areas around the intertwining lines and exaggerating their shape with the lines already in the plywood I successfully gave the illusion of a fluid object.

The wooden sculptures by Ricky Swallow transforms solid wood into natural textures, materials and organic soft forms. His tireless hours of subtraction is where I want to go with my wooden sculptures. I want to be able to transform wood into other objects entirely, creating an illusion.