WorkArt & Culture

Sculptures of humans and skeletons chiseled from wood

Japanese sculptor Yoshitoshi Kanemaki is someone who chisels and forms life-sized figurative sculptures out of giant pieces of camphor wood.

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A person holds a large wooden skeleton above their head, with the skull and ribcage merging into their own form against a grey background

The strange but beautiful figures are often merged into other characters, or in many cases – with skeletons. Although some would consider these artworks to be 'creepy', we think they offer an interesting perspective on the people they're aiming to portray. Could they be hinting at the many faces and guises we put on, to hide the real us?

A shirtless man in white shorts holds a large skeleton above his head against a grey background
A person in white clothing stands with arms crossed, their head tilted upward and merged with flowing white fabric, rendered in painterly style against a black background
Wooden sculpture by Yoshitoshi Kanemaki showing multiple carved female heads with braided hair merged into one form with skeletal legs
Wooden sculpture by Yoshitoshi Kanemaki of a woman in a skirt with a skeletal torso and upper body emerging from her shoulders, mounted on a wooden base
Wooden sculpture by Yoshitoshi Kanemaki of a figure with crossed arms and contemplative expression carved from camphor wood
Wooden sculptural figure with multiple identical faces arranged horizontally atop a body wearing a purple and pink outfit, by Yoshitoshi Kanemaki
A kneeling shirtless man carved from wood merges with a skeletal upper body and skull, both rendered in pale wood tones against a grey background
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