Michelle Holzapfel
process
Work begins with a hunk of native hardwood burl, harvested from local sources. Burls are caused by a virus which causes bulging growths on the host tree----more analogous to a wart than a cancer. Sanding reveals the extravagant swirling patterns of burlwood.
Left: Wild cherry burls in storage.
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...There is a dynamic here between violence and healing, in which the act of carving into the wood itself is counterbalanced by a moving preservation of the vitality that was once in the living tree...
Susanne Ramljak; Writer, Curator and Art Historian
essay, “Speaking Out of Turn.” for the invitation to ‘Bespoke Vessels’ solo show at Barry Friedman Gallery, New York, NY, 1999