Untitled

Description

According to Stoney Lamar, “a work begins with my relationship to a particular piece of wood; its characteristics interplay with my intentions and my emerging technical and conceptual vocabulary.” This interplay between medium and technique is seen in this untitled piece, in which Lamar’s abstract, suggestive lines and smooth finish contrast with the wood’s striking grain and natural edge.
Rather than focusing on the round objects of traditional turning, Lamar turns his works on multiple, asymmetrical axes. This gives Lamar’s pieces a feeling of movement and balance and has allowed him to draw from a wider range of influences. Some of Lamar’s explorations have led him to study African masks, for example: “Recently, the symmetry of individual elements in some masks has led me to an investigation of how a single line can express an emotion.”
from the exhibition Nature Transformed: Wood Art from the Bohlen Collection, June 12 – October 3, 2004