Accession Number
2002/2.160

Title
The Awakening of the Snake Bird

Artist(s)
Alain Mailland

Object Creation Date
2000

Medium & Support
heather root

Dimensions
5 1/2 x 14 x 11 1/2 in. (13.97 x 35.56 x 29.21 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Robert M. and Lillian Montalto Bohlen

Label copy
After studying landscape painting at the National Art School of Cergy-Pontoise near Paris and working as a mason, carpenter, and roofer, Alain Mailland made the transition to woodturning in the early 1990s. Specializing in green woodturning because of the way the work warps and changes shape when drying, he soon developed his own distinctive style and technique.
In The Awakening of the Snake Bird, Mailland uses the lathe to transform wood into a flowing sensuous form, striving to preserve its organic quality and reveal “the landscape under the wood.” It is alive with movement and fluid, undulating rhythms. Its sinuous lines are intricately carved so as not to rupture the fragile armature of the piece. It is an homage to wood and nature: “In my pieces I try to express the beauty of life by revealing the forces living in the wood. I love air and energy passing through the matter. By carving I give a soul to turned shapes and this is my pleasure.”
from the exhibition Nature Transformed: Wood Art from the Bohlen Collection, June 12 – October 3, 2004

Physical Description
organic form consisting of thin concentric tendrils of wood

Primary Object Classification
Sculpture

Primary Object Type
abstract sculpture

Additional Object Classification(s)
Sculpture

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
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Keywords
organic material
wood (plant material)