Craft
"It's one of my earliest attempts at whittling. The whole piece was made using just a 120 Mora kniv. It's a bit rough, but I still lhave a fondness for it. Although I would approach it very differently now, that's just experience talking. Maybe it's something I'll revisit in the future."
- Replicant-5
Sometime around the beginning of 2018, Replicant-5 picked up a knife to attempt whittling or carving something from wood. Early experiments led to making many, many spoons, and there's a whole world of spoon-carving that we won't get into here. Looking for something a little more challenging sculpturally, he found a pencil-drawn image by Matthew Soffe on Facebook. The drawing depicts the Dark Horse comic book character Hellboy in the style of a Lewis chess piece. This resulted in a boxwood interpretation of the drawing that was gifted to the artist who inspired it.
Original drawing by Matt Soffe. Reproduced with kind permission.
Original boxwood carving by Replicant-5.
Whether by request or just through experimentation and exploration animals feature more frequently in Replicant-5's work with wood than any other subject. Sizes and subject matter vary. Influences come from Japanese Netsuke and historical animal carvings.
"There will always be inspiration from history and in nature. Animal carvings have always been made since humans could make markings with tools. They're immensely popular and they are commissioned frequently. It's something I am happy to do anytime.
- Replicant-5
