Enfolded Cottontail - Redwood Burl on Sandstone
(c)2009 Ken Newman Sculptures
It's always interesting to see a writer express their thoughts after seeing Ken's work at an art show. We will be sharing some of these words over the next couple weeks. Visit the website to see more sculptures. Also, remember the wood sculptures are carved from a single piece of wood.
Ken Newman
You can almost always tell when Ken is working. You can hear his hammer and chisel throughout the tents. Without the noise to make it seem real, you might mistake Ken’s work as ancient, Druidic magic.
Although he works with bronze, too, you can tell Ken’s a woodsman. He’s always busy with his hands, feeling and seeing beyond the known and revealing the unseen in the wood. He’s a wood whisperer of sorts.
Trying to describe what Ken does with or to the wood is somewhat difficult. He exposes the art in the wood. He liberates the story that lies within the wood. He removed what is not necessary to reveal what is vital. Actually, describing his work is easy; realizing how much time, energy, patience, commitment, and persistence he invests into each piece suggests the true meaning of the man. He’s one of a kind.
Ken finds pieces of wood. He stacks them, stores them and sometimes turns them upside down. Ken has X-ray vision; he sees what no one else can see. With a spooky intuition developed through years of experience, Ken knows what the inside grain will reveal. Of course, wood work being what it is, he also knows how to adopt, adapt and improve his designs as he works. After all, that’s the secret of life, isn’t it?
When he is finished – after months of work, hundreds of hours, and untold interruptions – Ken uses natural oils to tenderly heighten the beauty of the wood in order to direct the observer’s eye to the intricate maze of action and meaning. Whether it’s a fluffy bunny hiding behind a prickly cactus or an otter darting to the surface to snatch its supper, Ken’s sculptures are truly awe-inspiring.
Certainly, you realize when you see the sculptures that Ken’s talent is extremely rare; but the message of his work resonates deeply, too; No matter who a person is, no matter the person’s shape or size or gender or color, true beauty lies within. No matter what other people think about the “outside” what lies “inside” is what truly matters.
With Ken and his partner Debbie (his official storyteller) who can recount, almost to the hour, the how and when and where and why of each sculpture, its evolution from forest floor to mirrored stand. She surrounds him with an aura of sorts, like a wood nymph guarding a priest performing sacred rites in a secret grove.
In addition, Ken’s retriever seems quite satisfied as his master uses the most ancient and simple tools to liberate the art from the wood. Undoubtedly, a game of “catch the stick” ends differently at Ken’s house. To Ken, a convivial conservationist no stick is simple a piece of wood. It has potential, full of rich art.
John Pinkerton, AZ
John is an English Professor in Arizona, Thanks John.
