Alain Mailland
Alain Mailland is one of the most important wood sculptors working today, creating bold, incomparable work. A leading figure in the new wave of French artists who build upon tradition while creating a bold new language, he has gained a reputation for his visionary approach to aesthetics and technique.
"My sculptures are, for me, a way of celebrating life and the secret wonders of burls and roots of the South of France," Mailland offers, and he does indeed celebrate the natural beauty of these woods, while imbuing them with his observations of life. Although the work is progressive and original, the influence of vegetable and marine forms are obvious in the work, as are the currents of modern art, from impressionism to surrealism.
Born in Africa in 1959, Alain Mailland lived in the suburbs of Paris until the end of his studies at the National Art School of Cergy-Pontoise, after which he worked as mason and carpenter. After taking a woodturning course with Philippe Bourgeat in 1987, Mailland moved to Uzes, a beautiful Medieval town in the south of France.
"I grew up in Paris, but it's always grey in the north, so when I was 20 I came here," says Mailland. "The climate is wonderful. The place has character and that is important to me."
Specializing in green wood hollowing techniques, Mailland initially produced vases, dishes, salad bowls, lamps and lampshades, which led him to explore unique vessel and sculptures with incredibly thin walls.
"I can't imagine my life making the same things all the time, even with my creative work," he says. "Wood here is so beautiful because it suffers from the Mediterranean climate hot and dry, that it was for me like an explorer discovering a new landscape: adventure!"
"Alain Mailland is an example of an artist who has created a distinct style of work, mastered it and then keeps taking it to the next level," notes Ray Leier, Peter's partner in the gallery and the one who saw the artist's potential and first selected the work for exhibition. "His use of material is incredible."
"He's a woodturner's woodturner," Peters adds. "One of the few where wood artists come up and look at his work and are impressed."
While developing his craft, the artist had begun making single abstract flower forms. Moving into larger sculptural statements, he sought a way to group them as a single work. Mailland spent two weeks in the shop creating the tools that made this possible. The curved scrapers that resulted were used to create Flowers, a work in pistachio, heather, arbute-tree and juniper burl. The tools proved a major breakthrough and have allowed him to create the sculptural works that followed.
"It's interesting to see that sometimes ideas and techniques play together," Mailland notes. "I had the idea, developed the technique, and the technique allowed me to realize new ideas."
The artist, who is in high demand in international circles for turning demonstrations and speaking engagements, has also become known for his sense of humor.
"Alain Mailland is a comedian," notes artist and writer Terry Martin, adding that Mailland's clowning hides a passionate commitment to woodturning and connection with history. "It would be hard to find a more distinguished history of turning than in France. If Europe nurtured the turning which was reinvented in the New World as the trendy art of today, the French can claim much credit for its historical evolution." Martin places Mailland firmly within… "the main thrust of the turning revival (that) came from newcomers who had not served apprenticeships and were not constrained by preconceived notions of what is acceptable."
In exploring the wood medium, Mailland expresses a tremendous love of nature. From the time he was young, he would study plants with his mother, and he spent several summers in nature camps. In his sculptural work, the artist offers an interpretation of the natural forms that create such a sense of wonder in him.
"I was always impressed by the beauty of the natural forms and the diversity that nature can offer to our eyes," Mailland says. "It is every day a wonder to admire new things - you just have to look at it and keep your eyes wide open."
Although Mailland's work presents a bold new approach to sculpture, many of his fans come from the field of woodturning, where collectors and artists alike marvel at what he is able to accomplish using the process.
Multi-axis and off-center turning techniques, in which the piece of wood is attached to the lathe and then turned at multiple centers to create a series of vessel forms facing various directions within a larger work, have proven important to the artist's creative output. Initially inspired by the work of Hugh McKay, a pioneering artist in this approach, Mailland went on to develop his own approach.
"I became a woodturner before seeing works created by artistic woodturners," Mailland notes. "I was always fascinated by woodwork. I am completely in love with the wood. I was a carpenter and furniture maker and always interested in tools and the old way of making woodwork. I fell in love with woodturning and then woodcarving. Then I saw the collections in the United States and imagined what was possible to do with the lathe and so many areas opened at that time. I am still exploring the possibilities of what the lathe can offer and I feel I won't have enough time in my entire life to explore this field."
"My sculptures are, for me, a way of celebrating life and the secret wonders of burls and roots of the South of France," Mailland offers, and he does indeed celebrate the natural beauty of these woods, while imbuing them with his observations of life. Although the work is progressive and original, the influence of vegetable and marine forms are obvious in the work, as are the currents of modern art, from impressionism to surrealism.
Born in Africa in 1959, Alain Mailland lived in the suburbs of Paris until the end of his studies at the National Art School of Cergy-Pontoise, after which he worked as mason and carpenter. After taking a woodturning course with Philippe Bourgeat in 1987, Mailland moved to Uzes, a beautiful Medieval town in the south of France.
"I grew up in Paris, but it's always grey in the north, so when I was 20 I came here," says Mailland. "The climate is wonderful. The place has character and that is important to me."
Specializing in green wood hollowing techniques, Mailland initially produced vases, dishes, salad bowls, lamps and lampshades, which led him to explore unique vessel and sculptures with incredibly thin walls.
"I can't imagine my life making the same things all the time, even with my creative work," he says. "Wood here is so beautiful because it suffers from the Mediterranean climate hot and dry, that it was for me like an explorer discovering a new landscape: adventure!"
"Alain Mailland is an example of an artist who has created a distinct style of work, mastered it and then keeps taking it to the next level," notes Ray Leier, Peter's partner in the gallery and the one who saw the artist's potential and first selected the work for exhibition. "His use of material is incredible."
"He's a woodturner's woodturner," Peters adds. "One of the few where wood artists come up and look at his work and are impressed."
While developing his craft, the artist had begun making single abstract flower forms. Moving into larger sculptural statements, he sought a way to group them as a single work. Mailland spent two weeks in the shop creating the tools that made this possible. The curved scrapers that resulted were used to create Flowers, a work in pistachio, heather, arbute-tree and juniper burl. The tools proved a major breakthrough and have allowed him to create the sculptural works that followed.
"It's interesting to see that sometimes ideas and techniques play together," Mailland notes. "I had the idea, developed the technique, and the technique allowed me to realize new ideas."
The artist, who is in high demand in international circles for turning demonstrations and speaking engagements, has also become known for his sense of humor.
"Alain Mailland is a comedian," notes artist and writer Terry Martin, adding that Mailland's clowning hides a passionate commitment to woodturning and connection with history. "It would be hard to find a more distinguished history of turning than in France. If Europe nurtured the turning which was reinvented in the New World as the trendy art of today, the French can claim much credit for its historical evolution." Martin places Mailland firmly within… "the main thrust of the turning revival (that) came from newcomers who had not served apprenticeships and were not constrained by preconceived notions of what is acceptable."
In exploring the wood medium, Mailland expresses a tremendous love of nature. From the time he was young, he would study plants with his mother, and he spent several summers in nature camps. In his sculptural work, the artist offers an interpretation of the natural forms that create such a sense of wonder in him.
"I was always impressed by the beauty of the natural forms and the diversity that nature can offer to our eyes," Mailland says. "It is every day a wonder to admire new things - you just have to look at it and keep your eyes wide open."
Although Mailland's work presents a bold new approach to sculpture, many of his fans come from the field of woodturning, where collectors and artists alike marvel at what he is able to accomplish using the process.
Multi-axis and off-center turning techniques, in which the piece of wood is attached to the lathe and then turned at multiple centers to create a series of vessel forms facing various directions within a larger work, have proven important to the artist's creative output. Initially inspired by the work of Hugh McKay, a pioneering artist in this approach, Mailland went on to develop his own approach.
"I became a woodturner before seeing works created by artistic woodturners," Mailland notes. "I was always fascinated by woodwork. I am completely in love with the wood. I was a carpenter and furniture maker and always interested in tools and the old way of making woodwork. I fell in love with woodturning and then woodcarving. Then I saw the collections in the United States and imagined what was possible to do with the lathe and so many areas opened at that time. I am still exploring the possibilities of what the lathe can offer and I feel I won't have enough time in my entire life to explore this field."