I completed these two sculptures of sporty figures early this week and they’re now headed to Katy, Texas. (‘Jump Shot 1’ and ‘Dula Runners’) There they will be displayed on the lobby walls of a brand new Villa Sport in Cinco Ranch. A resort-like health and fitness facility, Villa Sport is a growing chain of high-end clubs, all west of the Mississippi. This is the first time I’ve done the basketball figures for them, the runners appear in several of their most recent locations.

Made of various types of ripped scrap wood and tinted using a light color stain to allow the wood grain to be clearly visible and to let the natural warmth of the wood to become part of the palette. A Japanese pull saw with extremely fine teeth is used to make the biased cuts that keep the look angular and energetic.

The technique taps into my interest in mosaics and other types of imagery that present largely rough information that underlines the ability of the eye/mind to try and craft sense from whatever is perceived. As is typical in this type of approach, the closer you get to the piece, the more abstract it gets.