The art of magical woods sculptured to life by artists adds flavour to existence

It is the idea, skill and magic which an artist puts in to create the woods into sculptures. Indian crafts define certain pioneering works in the wooden sculptures and Neeraj Gupta, the famous and renowned artist fabricate creates fabulous forms of incredible art pieces. 
 

Working with woods has been a popular art since ancient times. Creating a master piece inheriting old values encapsulates richness and diversified heritage of Indian culture. Epitomes of beauty, such well created wooden sculptures are a source of inspiration for every young artist to relive the traditions. 

  

Evoked with their remarkable glory, durability and aesthetic sense, they reflect immaculate creativity and artistic intelligence of its creator, mesmerising modern art lovers.

Playing well with the grain, textures and colours, it is more difficult to mould a log to such an inspiring wooden form which is heart-pleasing yet elegant in its posture.

An artist knows to etch everything with his insight; it doesn’t matter if it is over a piece of paper or lumbers. Since its inception, few woodensculpture artists have been able to draw connect between the real and living piece of wood that breathes out through the pores. Artist Neeraj Gupta is a pioneer with wisdom who convinces the piece with its flair and shape for being novel. Feeling every bit of the log with its characteristics, he is passionate to reform art in realism.

Even though a wooden sculpture faces the challenges for its existence being prone to microbial damage, they still remain the choice of millions when it gets to classical flavours. Being light and ease to get along, most art lover prefers them over other forms.

Wooden sculpture artist- a very few delicate hands to come up with the world renowned master pieces in the wooden art form

Amongst the most appreciated forms of sculptures are the wooden sculptures. Since years together art lovers tend to value this art form, mainly because of the beauty that is incorporated in its making.  Some of the best examples of early European wooden carving include the icons of Middle Ages hailing from Germany, Russia, Italy and France. In the earlier times, these sculptures were mainly made to represent religion, but over the time, history, politics, and day to day social aspects are also depicted through sculptures. Wooden sculptures require a certain skill and delicacy and that is why history has witnessed very few wooden sculpture artists that have outgrown in this particular art form. Artist Neeraj Gupta is an expert in creating outstanding wooden sculptures.

Wooden sculpture involves delicate carving of wood using a knife or a chisel. Thus making of these sculptures require immense practice and accuracy. As comparison to stone and metal, even though this art form is less preferred owing to decay and insect damage, it is still a very popular and highly procured form of sculpturing. Most of the Chinese and Japanese sculptures are made in wood. This is because the substance is light in wood and so enables fine detailing.

Step by step creation of timber carving, by a wooden sculpture artist to produce an exquisite finished figurine

Wooden sculpture rivets wood carving by means of a cutting tool, ideally a knife or a chisel. The making of these sculptures is exceedingly practiced, however, very few wooden sculpture artists endow with finished products to the best of its perfection. Even though in comparison to stone and metal sculptures, this art form is less popular due to factors such as decay, insect damage and fire; stilted sculptures is yet a very popular and much appreciated form of sculpturing. Many of the important sculptures of Chinese and Japanese tradition are made in wood, owing to the lightness of wood that enables fine detailing as compared to stone. Some of the finest examples of early European wood carving comprise the forms of the Middle Ages in Germany, Russia, Italy and France where Christian iconography was expressed through sculptures. India too, has produced fine artists in this field. One of the best examples is the present day wood form artist, Mr. Neeraj Gupta representing Incredible Sculptures.

Wooden carving typically begins by selection of the finest quality of a single wooden slab or several pieces laminated together to create the required size, followed by a general shaping process by means of gouges of different sizes. Once the general shape is made, the carver uses a multiplicity of tools for creating details and finally giving the finished surface. The chosen technique depends on the required quality of surface finish. The texture through shallow gouges provides ‘life’ to the carving's surface. For this reason, many carvers prefer this 'tooled' finish. The finer polishing is done with abrasive paper where in the large grained paper with a rougher surface is used first, followed by the finer grained paper that offers a slick touch to the piece.  After the carving and finishing is completed, the artist seals the colour using natural oils, such as walnut or linseed oil that protects the wood from muck and moisture. Oil too imparts sheen to the wood which, by reflection of light. Objects made of wood are frequently finished with a layer of wax, which protects the wood and gives a soft lustrous sheen.

Why wooden sculpture art is famous in Assam??

Traditionally the people of Assam have been craftsmen and those who are engaged in wood carving and have passed the skills from generation to generation are known as khanikars. Assam is a thickly forested area which has a wide range of wood and timber available in them, which contributes to this rich tradition of wood sculpture art. It is often said that the artisans in Assam are so specialized in their skills that by mere touch even in the dark, they can not only recognize the type of timber but can make a series of items from it.

The sacred worship places of people in their houses known as namghars or kirtanghar are built from wood and contains a peacock shaped throne-like seat. On the doors, beams, walls, ceilings and on simhasanas (lion’s seat) of prayer houses, deities and flowers are elaborately carved in wood. In wooden sculpture, carvings of animal figures having mythical context such as the monkey god the Hanuman, the vahana of Vishnu half-man and half-eagle garuda, vahana of ganga, vahana of devi the simha or lion, and crocodile has gained place. Elaborately carved decorative wooden panels can be seen in Royal palaces and old monasteries.

Modern time wooden sculpture artist are more interested in producing commercial value articles such as stools, chests, hukkas, etc. and Incredible Sculpture is one company that offers these articles in addition to other carving works.