WorkArt & Culture

WoodRocks: Reclaimed wood shaped and painted to look like gorgeous gemstones

In her series Woodrocks, Californian artist Victoria Wagner loves to slice reclaimed chunks of wood into geometric shapes, before painting them to resemble beautiful gemstones. Using layers of different coloured oil paint, and following the natural grain of the wood, the resulting sculptures mimic various natural elements, such as sunsets or landscapes.

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Reclaimed wood carved into a geometric shape and painted with layered oils in shades of turquoise, purple and pink, resembling a gemstone with a glowing centre

Speaking of her work, she said: "My life is divided very distinctly between two places. One of which is urban, conceptual, mental and the other...rural, physical, tangible. Of late and more frequently, this division reveals itself in my speech patterns, line quality and colour usage as a respective duality of which no hierarchy exists. Like the cold blow of air conditioning on a summer's day; consistently and confidently out of place.

"With the work of the past couple of years and more distinctly the one year represented here, I wanted to be able to commence thinking about a problem and work toward a solution on the picture or surface plane. Simple problems of hue, composition, visual dynamic and subtle media choices to enhance effect became consuming.

"I have been searching through practice for a solution in which all parts of the whole felt attended to and all thought process was transparent. The steps were evident as moving toward a minimal truth. That truth being the elusive nature of any real truth, that it is subjective and seated firmly in physical, locational experience."

Recently, Wagner's work has been shown at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Southern Exposure, theLab, Headlands Center for the Arts, Sonoma County Museum, and the DiRosa Art and Nature Preserve. She teaches at the California College of the Arts.

Via Colossal

Four wooden blocks carved into geometric shapes and painted with vibrant gradient colours to resemble gemstones, displayed from different angles
Reclaimed wood painted with layers of oil paint in turquoise, purple and gold to resemble a gemstone, with blurred painted wood pieces visible in the background
Two wooden geometric sculptures painted to resemble gemstones, one with gradient green and yellow tones in the foreground and another with iridescent colours blurred in the background
Reclaimed wood block carved into a geometric shape and painted with layers of yellow, green and blue oil paint to resemble a gemstone
Reclaimed wood carved into an angular gemstone shape and painted with layers of yellow, pink and bright blue oil paint to resemble a landscape with sky and terrain
Reclaimed wood carved into an oval shape with a deep purple and indigo painted centre resembling an amethyst gemstone, topped with a natural wood exterior
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