Hitting Home (self-inflicted)
Completed
2023
Medium
Wood and metal
Dimensions
9"x12"x5"
Cost
SOLD
Description
“Hitting Home” is part of a hammer series where I look to reimagine the hammer beyond its intended use to shape a different perspective. I invite viewers to see these works as a metaphor for wide-ranging topics around the human condition: power, persuasion, struggle, conflict, and fragility. Marshall McLuhan asserted that “we shape our tools, and thereafter, our tools shape us.” “Hitting Home” was created using a technique called kerfing, which is the process of removing wood using a series of saw cuts to achieve a precise thickness that enables bending without breaking. The piece illustrates the irony of humans bending nature to their will by fashioning tools, which in turn, could result in unintended consequences. Fascinated by the patterns of wood grain, I began experimenting by turning angled blocks of wood one quarter turn. All blocks of wood are cut identically, but with each twist, the grain and how the light and shadows play upon them change the look of not only each block but the entire piece. The grain in each piece of wood is unique, determined by the species of wood and weather patterns. This piece is a metaphor of the turns we take in life, and how those choices change our growth, direction, how we view the world, and how it views us in small and significant ways.
About this Artist
Adrian Pynenburg
Adrian Pynenburg is a contemporary sculptor living in Brantford, Ontario. His organic and rhythmic sculptures pay homage to his diversified skills developed growing upon a dairy farm, training in woodworking and a career that spanned from building custom homes to retail design and marketing. Always curious, he is a long-time Chautauquan who firmly believes in life-long learning. Adrian has combined his passion for working with wood architecture and design innovation into his sculptures. As a fine woodworker he brings the mastery of furniture making and sculpture together. His work appears to defy gravity and nature by transforming wood into undulating forms that advance and recede. Some pieces explore harmony, and other tension and release. What he enjoys the most is forming and bending wood to reinterpret what is possible and, in doing so, engage the viewer.
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