Drawing with Wood

A few notes on drawing

As the title of the project implicates drawing into this I feel I should make a few connections here. Like craft, drawing is an expansive subject, especially now as digital work has opened up a whole new set of possibilities. It also seems to ask some of the same questions that have occurred whilst thinking about craft in considering it’s relevance to today’s visual art.

How useful is it and how is it defined?

Marquetry is definitely a lot to do with marks, not just mark making but found marks, exploiting lines and tones that occur naturally in the grain. Part of the skill and invention in marquetry is being able to use these marks, to make similar choices about line, tone and texture that are fundamental to any traditional drawing practice.

The mimicry of a surface, form or volume is a key link in Marquetry as a method of drawing. There are certain veneers that resemble surfaces so accurately that they become a sort of standard key to many images. So things like water, hair, silk can be found in likeness to certain veneers and used within representational picture making.  The consistency of marks to be found within certain types of veneer can influence the idea and perhaps this is why traditional subject matter can sometimes be repetitive?

The linking of a real surface or material to a veneer as a starting point to a piece of work is very important to understanding of the attraction of marquetry.

Woody Miller

One of the main pictures I have been working on is taking me ages. Partly because the veneer is very fragile and sliqhtly warped. As well as this I am using a lot of fragmentation in the picture which means lots of tiny shards need to be cut which although a speedy process compared to some aspects of marquetry- I seem to be taking a long time.

A member of the staffordshire group uses a pepper mill to grind his bits of veneer for similar purposes. I thought I would give this a go too so have bought a pepper mill that I will load up with veneer shards and have a try. I like this improvisation of a tool like this, so simple and logical.

Urban Field

A symposium dedicated to contemporary craft practice is to be held this week in Surrey. Discussing rural and Urban crafts the content looks very good with some interesting speakers contributing. I am interested to note that Dr Ian Hunter of the Littoral Arts trust will be contributing as he has been very involved with an art that engages with agriculture. His talk promises to cover an argument from a more unusual perspective

'I want to argue that we need radically to rethink current crafts practice and policy in this country, and bypass its current preoccupation with gaining credibility in the art world and also to wean it of its fixation with the unsustainable high-end designer/consumer market ethos; and seek new ways of realigning the critical energies, core traditions and inventiveness of contemporary craft practice with some of the strategic programmes now being proposed by governments, NGOs and communities world-wide to tackle the impact of climate change, depletion of fossil fuel stocks, rural development and agricultural change and environmental sustainability'

As I only found out about this today I won't be going but will try to follow the outcomes. I think it is important to note the 'Pre-occupation' mentioned above, of craft gaining credibility in the art world. I think it is very true that this is unsustainable but perhaps the only way some makers feel they gain critical and artistic recognition. The relationship this has to the Art world being almost exclusively urban does inform this mindset so I wonder what alternatives will be proposed? not just for craft but in general this is an important issue.

where Marquetry fits with all of this I am not sure? but In talking about urban and rural think it falls between a definition of the two.

Not rustic enough to be a truely rural craft yet engaged enough with a natrual material that it can't be entirely seperated from the countryside. At the same time there is a certain finesse to Marquetry that does feel more urban and in touch with some sort of fine art world.

www.urbanfield.org.uk/thesymposium.html

Max Hymes

I have discovered a really interesting visual artist who uses marquetry within his work. Max Hymes is a sculptor whose works incorporate various elements of traditional craft alongside modern materials, concepts and techniques. I like his approach and what he is producing which makes reference to significant periods within the history of craft whilst amalgamating historical and contemporary aesthetic tastes.

The Arts and Crafts movement is so important to the study of craft that taking this into account in some way seems inevitable. Pointing to ideas regarding local materials, the exotic and heterogeneous societies- there seems to be a lot going on within Hymes' work; this is reflected in an eclectic style which seems to incorporate amongst other things elements of folk art alongside the more lavish notion of the objet d'art.

I have been thinking about ranges of materials too from the available and inexpensive to the natural and manmade, what we consider luxurious and those taken entirely for granted. Within marquetry there is a huge array of materials to consider. Some of the manmade veneers I have encountered are themselves quite bizarre, fabricated grains that mimic those to be found naturally. Some I find look like retro prints or designs you might find on an out of date jumper. I think within marquetry circles these are more often than not dismissed for being inauthentic and are used more for backing pictures rather than playing a significant part in the actual design.

I think these manmade veneers have their own qualities though that are worth considering and in reality we are surrounded by them everyday, from laminate floors to those plastic walnut finishes that appear to look so great on car doors.

Some of Max Hymes work and other links can be found at the bearspace gallery website below

http://www.bearspace.co.uk/home.html

Silas Kopf

Silas Kopf is an American artist with a high profile for his marquetry he is an example of someone that seems very engaged with the practice it's tradition and history. With a degree in architecture his wood working came later, discovering marquetry whilst working in various workshop situations for other people.

Kopf's work is essentially commercial applying his marquetry to all sorts of furniture, cabinet making in general being an important theme underlying what he does and that specific tradition. I like fact that this can be related to a background in an architecture where the construction of a utilitarian object was the main objective, underpinned by drawing. Thinking about this in relation to kopf's furniture production connections are definitely apparent. Kopf has a market for his work and makes things to sell. Despite this he does sit on the fence a little in terms of his art although he doesn't seem to care too much, essentially calling himself a craftsmen and making his own admission that his work will never be acknowledged as avant garde.

I ‘think I'm a good craftsman and that what I do is interesting because of the level of skill that goes into it, and that if somebody finds some art content in it, either that it's an interesting furniture design or there is an interesting pictographic concept, so much the better' Kopf

(Actually reading interviews with various people involved with the Marquetry society in the UK they generally seem indifferent to whether they are called artists or craftsmen or if what they do is Art or craft which is probably a good thing.)

Working in the ‘trompe l’oiel' tradition Kopfs pieces ranges from the satisfying trickery of table tops to some things that are downright weird (Betty Boo having sex with a peanut??) From what I have seen I note a struggle with the aesthetic and the subject, particularly the portraiture which some of the more bizarre works play on, but not to undermine a certain originality. I like the way he talks about his work though and his discipline and respect for his craft of which he is clearly amongst the elite in terms of skill.

http://www.silaskopf.com/index.html

The website seems to illustrate commercial stuff and I think there are more interesting images of his work elsewhere. Various things I have read lead to interesting questions and considerations however…….

‘can you really get emotional content out of it that surpasses just the awesomeness of the fact that it is done in wood? I'm always fighting-not fighting that, but that is a thing that I think about. Seduction of the material and technique' Kopf

This relates to how I can't seem to detach myself from having to relate the content of marquetry to wood as a material, the fundamental struggle of subject matter. It is interesting that someone in Kopfs position mentions this and also how the skill and material tends to takes priority over the content.

Kopf also seems actively engaged with issues of sustainability and ecology surrounding working with tropical timbers. Something I haven't really written about but that is a question that seems to be raised within the practice and is increasingly relevant.

Having studied in Europe and practicing marquetry professionally for many years Kopf is a central figure in the continuation of the precision of the craft of marquetry. Work for Steinway Pianos illustrates this and he seems to be out on his own in a way in terms of his market and profession. He also provides some interesting reference points in the way of Art nouveau artists whose work he has been influenced by.