Jeff Soan

Wobbly Wood
My work reflects equally a love of creatures, great and small, and a love of wood.
My earlier training as an artist and more lately as a toymaker has lead to objects which can be seen as playful sculpture or perhaps sculptural toys but I generally refer to it as Wobbly Wood.   

I try to express the essential nature of the animals, birds, and fish I create, sometimes by simplification, sometimes by attention to detail and very often by the sinuous movement achieved with the technique of articulation. A large part of my work in recent years has been investigating the possibilities of this wobbly wood which is created by cutting the wood into narrow sections and securing it to canvas.
   
I utilise the woods natural forms and features; its grain, colour and bark to suggest the creatures shape, markings, feathers and texture. I reduce waste as far as possible, for example the offcut portion of a big fishes tail will form the breast of a bird. This awareness means that while cutting fish I can be thinking bird; one will reshape the other.
   
Reclaimed wood is used extensively, from discarded furniture, driftwood, industrial pallets and friends and neighbours prunings and it is this found wood that often informs and shapes the work. This constantly varying source of timber helps keep the work fresh and alive