3D – work
Hand carving + 3 axis CNC milling, stained and unstained Ash 1200x400x100mm. 2026
These three works explore how speeds of making and tool combinations manifest in work with differing visual and textural characteristics.
Quick- The first used only chainsaw and then CNC milling (that sort to broadly followed the angle which the chainsaw cut). Medium – The second used chainsaw, then axe, and finally CNC milling (which again sort to matched the way in which I used the axe to create a rough, but appealing texture). Slow – The final piece used chainsaw, axe and adze, and finally CNC milling (which was used to ‘infest’ selected adze cut marks with digital termite trails).
Broader assumptions about the time and skill involved in traditional craft practices as opposed to the speed and efficiency of using of digital tools are also challenged by the strategies used here. It is not that there is always a different, and accelerated, pace to a craft practice that integrates digital technologies, but that the rapid and more time-consuming aspects that make up the composition of the whole design and production process are often re-orchestrated. Where the analogue processes are rapid and simple, the preparation of tool-paths and the actual digital cutting can far out way the time (and effort) taken to initially carve a form, and the converse can also be true. There is no hierarchy in this practice, just a differing tempos in the dance of making……..(from the slow, quick, quick, slow of the Tango to the quick, quick, slow, slow of the Rhumba)
3D – process
1. Chainsaw + cnc milling
2. Chainsaw + axe + cnc milling
3. Chainsaw + axe + adze + cnc milling
2D – work & process
hybrid drawing. hand painted watercolour and digital plot on paper. 11740x 780mm . 2026.….more to come!
Alongside the 3D work I have been creating hybrid drawings that combine watercolour painting and digital plotting. The plotting patterns are derived from the toolpaths that were used to create the 3D pieces, so there is both a visual and conceptual link between the pieces. However, these 2D works are not accurate representations of the technicalities of the 3D works, but are intended to be more of a parallel exploratory path….as cited in my ‘Digital Making Analytical Framework’ they aspire to fidelity rather than accuracy.
