Laura Raboff

Artist Statement

Wood has been a fascination from a young age . . . nailing it, sanding it, carving and painting it.   Carved marks can be changed but not removed.  The incised wood captures grooves and indentations that show a history of the work.  They are a language of fingertips.

Painting is a constant in my life; I love paint. It triggers a conversation with a kind of interior philosophy as I mix the pigments and move the paint across a surface.  A few years ago I began painting on wooden “appleply” panels that I then carved, alternating between carving and painting.

In my wood sculpture, rather than applying pigment, I use hand chisels,
wood burning and other electric tools to alter the surface.  Wood can be a stubborn medium.  Carving it and “drawing” on it with shaping tools is sometimes combative, unlike working with the forgiving flow of paint.  The books I have made imply stories or information to be told but there are no pages to turn.  Scattered marks on a surface create a different kind of narrative.

While I have always loved reading and writing, the solid un-openable wood books only reference the pages, spine and cover that compose the physical presence of a story.

I began using silk and thread in my sculpture after visiting Japan two years ago.  I traveled to an ancient graveyard in a monastery town, Koyasan, high up in the mountains. People had placed knited caps and other clothing on many of the stone deities marking the gravesites.  These clothed jizo figures inspired me. The combination of materials re-awakened an interest of mine – contrasting a strong medium such as stone, wood or metal with the soft flow of fiber.

The wooden books are made from scavenged and purchased lumber.  The smell of cut poplar, cherry or walnut lingers in my woodshop after I turn off the saws.  Sometimes the particular qualities of a medium become the instigators of new ideas.  An idea turns into a new investigation that turns into another idea.  It is a chain – linking my hands and tools and thoughts to the action of making.

Laura Raboff
April, 2010