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“I must say, this was a terrifying, tedious and pretty exciting experiment. After turning the sphere, I created a jig to fix my router at a consistent depth so that I was able to rotate the sphere to create a maze with an undercut track which captures a ball bearing. It is a literal and figurative reflection of the idiomatic expression.”

Miriam Carpenter on the present lot

A rough-cut piece of wood spins on a device while cutting tools deftly shape the material into a vessel or spindle. Woodturning, known for its demand of skill, precision, and material intelligence on the side of the maker, emerged from an ancient production technique employed to make tools, furniture parts, and other functional objects. Like other craft disciplines, woodturning eventually captured the interest of artists, who found creative potential in the reductive shaping and ribbons of shavings that characterize the romance spectacle of this practice. Artists compelled to work with wood understand their role is not to create on a blank canvas, but to collude with the qualities already present in the material. Wood, in turn, offers up its unique and often irascible material structure, vivid patterning, and wide range of hues to the artistic conversation.

Woodturning, known for its demand of skill, precision, and material intelligence on the side of the maker, emerged from an ancient production technique employed to make tools, furniture parts, and other functional objects.

Crafted in Wood: The Stephen Weinroth Collection celebrates the inherent beauty and unique character of wood through works by leading artists whose relationship to the material is marked by decades of passion and discovery. 

The creative range of woodturning artists is on full display in this collection. From narrative portrayals of the realms of flora and fauna to the contemplative elegance of a simple form, the artworks gathered here represent fifty years of leading inquiries and pursuits in sculptural woodturning, by emerging and established artists alike. Investigations in time-honored techniques like sandblasting, bleaching, and perforating, reside comfortably alongside the machined rhythms of ornamental turning and geometric surface patterning. The spirit of experimentation characterizes many of these works, as artists push the shaping and surfacing of wood into new realms.

Trees hold endless fascination for us, as the architects of a world in which we often find ourselves isolated from these majestic organisms despite our dependency on ecosystems too sophisticated for us to fully understand.

Narrative, sculptural, organic, expressive, or responding to the global treasury of material culture—among them, vessels like spoons, teapots, and perfume bottle forms—contemporary woodturning speaks about the delicate and ever-shifting balance between nature and humankind. Trees hold endless fascination for us, as the architects of a world in which we often find ourselves isolated from these majestic organisms despite our dependency on ecosystems too sophisticated for us to fully understand.

The continuity of woodturning, past and present, is a part of this relationship. In its axial orientations, its preoccupation with the ancient vessel, and reverent relationship with wood, woodturning is an art form that continues to evolve and captivate our senses. The remarkable works showcased in Crafted in Wood demonstrate the incredible potential of wood as a medium and celebrate the harmonious collaboration between human imagination and nature's innate beauty.

Jennifer Navva-Milliken is the Executive Director and Chief Curator for the Museum for Art in Wood, Philadelphia.