MARTIN MAS - RETURN TO WOOD

Martin Mas is a master of the complex form. His carved wooden sculptures emerge from his use of a contemporary language in which he skilfully transforms lines, arabesques, and sensual silhouettes into sinuous forms. Both freestanding or seemingly draped from metal rods, Mas's sculptures are odes to balance and freedom. Although the shapes of his sculptures may be contorted, they remain playful and light. Using laminated wood and blocks of timber, Mas replicates the tense movement of a whiplash or the pendulous weight of molasses. The natural way his lines organically become three-dimensional resemble the action of sinews, muscles and rope. Almost magically, Mas removes the normal limitations of wood. Sometimes it is impossible to believe that his sculptures have been carved, not made from a flexible or pliable material. The different sorts of timber are tinted with pale colours, and lightly waxed. The wood grain also expresses the form. The viewer can decipher some of the methods of a sculpture's manufacture, but this is masked by subsequent layers, veneers and contours. These bold sculptures are symbols of strength, yet Mas's work maintains an underlying feeling of vulnerability and fragility. - Jonathan Turner