More Matches More

Now that summer vacation has finally arrived (accompanied by the usual catch-up chores that need to be attended to around the farmhouse) I can devote more time to the carving of the large match sticks. I prefer to complete the hatchet/plane/sanding work outside while the weather is warm and the air free of bugs (the deer flies nearly carried me away in July!), as the pine shavings and debris are dusty and substantial. Besides, when else am I going to get any sun this year?


The obvious theme present in these works is both one of scale (taking a small, insignificant object and transforming it to a larger proportion) along with burning and consumption; these matches could be metaphors for concepts, places and even individuals who are consumed by their own nature.

Later in the year I will carve out detailed match heads and masks that will further solidify the identities of these ideas. I have set aside a stout chunk of white cedar that was recently cut down by a road crew, and I can probably get at least 4 faces/heads from it. Ofcourse I will again attempt to burn and blacken the roughened areas of the sticks when the snow has covered the ground.

Prince and Pauper, Dec. 2009

Many years ago (waaaay back in art school) I used to make small "art brut" figures carved from scrap pine. Then I would scale them up to a larger-than-human version in order to emphasize their crude and niave energy. The 2 most memorable works were 6 and 14 feet tall respectively, covered in smaller carved figures, and painted in garish colours of house paint.

Last Fall I started to make 2 large match sticks, complete with match "heads". From the beginning I intended to burn them when snow covered the ground (which certainly reduced the fire risk) to complete the illusion.

The larger piece (nearly 8 ft) wears a broken crown of royalty, and the smaller figure has only the stunned face of poverty. The figures lose something of their meaning when they are set up at a height, so they are best suited to lying on the ground; used up and tossed aside.

Both pieces are made from a single pine log. The tree was found standing dead in the woods, still solid and strong, but just waiting for a stiff wind to push it over. The pieces were carved with a hatchet and some small chisels. Ultimately they will be finished with matt varnish, merely to maintain structural integrity of the charred wood.