Anatomy body in wood
Bambi. Photocredits: Paul de Bie
Artist and furniture-maker Ellen Harmsma has a passion for the human body and wood. As a cabinet maker, she has designed multiple tables, as a sculptor images to feel. She has a passion for the body which is reflected in her images: Skin of wood. When I saw her first work ‘Bambi’, I knew right away that I wanted to buy it. And now Bambi has a special place in my house. It is a small table and object rolled into one and has legs that are reminiscent of a real deer.
Touch
The special feature of the work of Ellen Harmsma is that it’s not only beautiful and looks similar to parts of the human body; you also want to touch it. The physical anatomy is her greatest inspiration. Shapes that are reminiscent of the body are the core of her work. In sculptures and furniture the organic line is the starting point. The construction is adapted to the sculpted form.
Body never lies
In Ellen’s words: “The body never lies, even if you can say no more, the body expresses in some way how you feel: in attitude, in body tension, a change in sound or change in amount of energy.” This behaviour in the body is well expressed in the images of Ellen. Each individual piece of surface on for example a bone, has a feature to the smallest detail.
“I move the body,
the body moves me.
I am affected,
by own eloquence and intelligence.
The body never lies, and it speaks when there are no more words.
Anatomy is Art”
Exhibition in Amsterdam
Ellen Harmsma will soon share her pictures and texts on bodyandmind.amsterdam. Currently her images are exposed at the exhibition in the main building of the UWV in Amsterdam on the la Guardiaweg 68. In 2015 Ellen was a prize winner and won the audience award at the Art Congress with Perspective in 2015.
For more information go to Huid van hout.
Photocredits: Erik Kottier