Loren Eiferman: Sculptures Made from Tree Limbs and Branches
My name is Loren Eiferman and I’m an artist from New York in the US. I want the viewer to have a sense of wonder and awe when looking at my work. We have all at one point or another picked up a stick from the ground-touched the wood, peeled the bark off with our fingernails.
My work taps into that same primal desire of touching nature and being close to it. Trees connect us back to nature, back to this Earth. My work frequently has a meditative quality to it-a quiet, calming energy. Over many decades I have created a unique technique of working with wood-my primary material. To craft my work, I usually begin with a drawing. This sketch acts like a road map for what I want my work to look like.
I start out each day collecting tree limbs and sticks that have fallen to the ground. I never chop down a living tree or use green wood. Next, I debark the branch and look for shapes found within each piece of wood. I then cut and permanently join these small shapes together using dowels and wood glue. Then, all the open joints get filled with a home made putty and sanded. This process of putty and sanding usually needs to be repeated at least three times. It is a very time consuming process and each sculpture takes me a minimum of a month to build. The sculpture that is being constructed appears like my line drawing but in space.
I am interested in having my work appears as if it grew in nature, when in fact each sculpture is frequently composed of over 100 small pieces of wood that are seamlessly jointed together.
My work can be called the ultimate recycling: where I take the detritus of nature and give it a new life. My influences are many- from looking at the patterns in nature and plant life on this Earth to researching the heavenly bodies in the images beamed back from the Hubble Telescope.
From studying ancient Buddhist mandalas, texts and sacred geometry throughout the ages to delving into quantum physics. All these influences inspire me daily.
“Three Towers” 2019, 109 pieces of wood with pastel, linseed oil, earth and graphite, each towers is 20″ x 4″ x 4″.
“39r” 2017, 122 pieces of wood with pastel and linseed oil, 38″ x 26″ x 11″.
“Childs Play” 2017, wood, metal, oil paint, 7″ x 5″ x 3″.
“8/8 Lotus” 2010, 107 pieces of wood with gold leaf, 29″ x 31″ x 9″.
“Pan Asian”, 2014, 125 pieces of wood with red oil paint, 22″ x 21″ x 4″.
“Black Hole”, 2012, 244 pieces of wood with linseed oil, 22″ x 19″ x 18″.
“Galaxy”, 2012, 129 pieces of wood with linseed oil, 39″ x 38″ x 29″.
“7r”, 166 pieces of wood with linseed oil with ash and graphite, 42″ x 25″ x 10″.
“Flower Code”, 2017, 173 pieces of wood with oil paint, 12″ x 12″ x 4″.
“Brain Wave #2″, 2015, 158 pieces of wood with oil paint, 2-24″ x 24″ x 2”
