Alexander Wilds, sculpture, drawings, paintings and prints: Walnut and Nails, a southern tradition

I am a sculptor by training and predilection. I make sculpture, I draw like a sculptor (3D images, not flat composition), make prints like a sculptor (process process process) and paint like a sculptor (it's all about material). I do a lot of architecture and furniture, which is just useful sculpture. Still, my work is not just sculpture - lots of painting, etching, drawing. At first blush it might seem like a lack of focus. Not so. All my work has the same hand, same taste, same treatment; only the formats vary.

I don't talk much about my work: my work speaks for me.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Walnut and Nails, a southern tradition

I have made a figure at least once a year for nearly 40 years. I do it whether I need the practice or not. in 2008 - 2009 I carved this from walnut. In the south folks drive many nails into walnut trees, saying it makes them bear better. I carved this, and as my wife wanted another child, thought I'd best put the nails back in, you know, just to be on the safe side. No, there was nothing sadistic or painful about it... it is just how they do things around here, with it being walnut and all....