Accession Number
2002/2.161

Title
Heather's Fragrance

Artist(s)
Alain Mailland

Object Creation Date
2001

Medium & Support
heather root

Dimensions
5 x 9 x 10 in. (12.7 x 22.86 x 25.4 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Robert M. and Lillian Montalto Bohlen

Label copy
Alain Mailland
Born 1959, Ivory Coast, Africa
Lives and works in Uzès, France
Heather’s Fragrance
2001
Heather root
Gift of Robert M. and Lillian Montalto Bohlen, 2002/2.160
Alain Mailland has amazed viewers with his highly complex and organic forms turned from a single piece of wood. Can you guess how an object like Heather’s Fragrance was turned on a traditional lathe? (See the adjacent label on multi-axis turning for a peek into Mailland’s technique.)
After studying landscape painting and working as a mason, carpenter, and roofer, Alain Mailland transitioned to woodturning in the early 1990s. He specializes in green woodturning, or turning a piece of wood before it has thoroughly dried. Once he shapes these green pieces on the lathe and with carving tools, Mailland sets them aside—sometimes for years—and carefully monitors their shrinkage and warping as their moisture evaporates, before he finishes them.
(Out of the Ordinary, 2010)

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
wood (plant material)