Mark Lindquist
Mark Lindquist has been an innovator and leader in the field of wood turning/sculpture since the late 1960s. Lindquist's thirty-plus years of contributions to contemporary art have altered the direction of wood turning and sculpture worldwide.
Lindquist's sculpture has evolved out of his art historical studies and his mastery of, and experimentation with, the craft of wood turning. Beginning in the late 1960s, he developed many of the techniques and aesthetic concepts which underlie the current studio wood turning movement, including the use of flawed materials (especially spalted wood), the application of modern abrasive technology, and the integration of Japanese ceramic sensibilities.
Through exhibiting, writing and teaching, Lindquist was instrumental in bringing about the acceptance of the craft of wood turning as a serious art form, and inspired and nurtured the followers of this fledgling movement. Echoes of Mark's innovative turning concepts -- the natural top bowl, the celebration of the tool-mark on the surface of the bowl, the captive bowl, the bowl as landscape, and many others -- continue to reverberate throughout today's turning world. In the late 1970's, having achieved national acceptance for his work (including acquisition by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City), Lindquist withdrew from active participation in the craft world, and began a broader exploration into contemporary and historical sculptural themes, such as the totem, Japanese Heian wood sculpture, and the woodblock print.
Lindquist developed a system for coupling the chainsaw to the lathe, and began producing massive, yet lyrical, sculptures that, while speaking directly of our machine age, make a timeless statement about the relationship between man and nature. Using retrofitted obsolete machinery from the height of the industrial revolution, Lindquist celebrates the "accidental" rhythms and patterns created by each machine's idiosyncrasies, just as he celebrates the aesthetic value of the flaws in his material. Using his lathe/chainsaw and other innovative technologies as well as traditional sculpture methods, Lindquist has developed several continuing series of sculptures.
Lindquist's sculpture has evolved out of his art historical studies and his mastery of, and experimentation with, the craft of wood turning. Beginning in the late 1960s, he developed many of the techniques and aesthetic concepts which underlie the current studio wood turning movement, including the use of flawed materials (especially spalted wood), the application of modern abrasive technology, and the integration of Japanese ceramic sensibilities.
Through exhibiting, writing and teaching, Lindquist was instrumental in bringing about the acceptance of the craft of wood turning as a serious art form, and inspired and nurtured the followers of this fledgling movement. Echoes of Mark's innovative turning concepts -- the natural top bowl, the celebration of the tool-mark on the surface of the bowl, the captive bowl, the bowl as landscape, and many others -- continue to reverberate throughout today's turning world. In the late 1970's, having achieved national acceptance for his work (including acquisition by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City), Lindquist withdrew from active participation in the craft world, and began a broader exploration into contemporary and historical sculptural themes, such as the totem, Japanese Heian wood sculpture, and the woodblock print.
Lindquist developed a system for coupling the chainsaw to the lathe, and began producing massive, yet lyrical, sculptures that, while speaking directly of our machine age, make a timeless statement about the relationship between man and nature. Using retrofitted obsolete machinery from the height of the industrial revolution, Lindquist celebrates the "accidental" rhythms and patterns created by each machine's idiosyncrasies, just as he celebrates the aesthetic value of the flaws in his material. Using his lathe/chainsaw and other innovative technologies as well as traditional sculpture methods, Lindquist has developed several continuing series of sculptures.
