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Biography
Christian Burchard has been working with wood for most of his life. Born in Hamburg, Germany in 1955, Burchard began as a furniture maker's apprentice in the middle seventies. In 1978, he moved to North America and studied sculpture and drawing at the Museum School in Boston, and at the Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver, BC.
In 1982, he opened Cold Mountain Studio in Southern Oregon. His early focus was on furniture and interiors, but gradually shifted to woodturning and sculpture, moving between vessel-oriented forms and sculptural turning. His work has been included in most of the major woodturning-related exhibits of the last ten years and is exhibited widely throughout the United States.
He states, “Wood and I are comfortable with each other and have a close relationship. I value the connection immensely. I am curious about what is inside wood, how it works. I am always looking for the gifts it has to offer. At times, I am awed by its beauty and the story of the particular history of a piece of wood, the tracks that the passage of time has left. I am driven to expose this beauty, to make it shine. At other times, I am more fascinated with the wood’s inner structure, its more subtle form and spirit.”
Burchard uses Pacific Madrone from the Arbutus family almost exclusively. He favors rejected burls that are harvested for the veneer market which often weigh many thousand pounds. To make them usable, the dirt and rocks are removed, and they are cut into blocks. By working with wet wood of a high water content (up to 20% of its volume) and by thinly cutting or turning his forms (to 1/8”), the artist takes advantage of the natural changes that occur as the wood dries. As the water evaporates and leaves the cells and the spaces between the cells, the wood shrinks and twists and some very dynamic changes can occur.
Burchard works with a chainsaw for most of the wood preparation and also for sculptural pieces. The marks that are left are dramatic and forceful. He uses a lathe for round forms which yields subtle, soft tool marks.
In his series of wall sculptures, the artist uses a band saw to cut large blocks of Madrone burl into very thin panels. These pieces are dried slowly over a period of months in a controlled environment which allows them to take on their final shape while minimizing the chances of cracking.
When they have finished drying, the panels are sandblasted and bleached. The bleach is used to expose what is within, which the artist compares to black and white photography in its simplicity, focus on structure and undulations and textures.
In the series called ‘Books’, the artist uses a band saw. The books are always bleached and are sometimes textured. They are cut from green blocks of wood and a microwave is used to dry the wood evenly and from the inside out. Each book’s form is a direct result of its underlying grain structure and each has its own distinct personality.
Working in this way allows Burchard a freedom and pleasure that is challenging and often surprising. He feels that he is working together with the materials he uses rather than trying to subdue or control them.
Curriculum Vitae
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2011
A Wood Collectors’ Home, Groovewood Gallery, Ashville, NC
Collect 2011, Sarah Myerscough Gallery, London, UK 2010
Be our Guest: A Progressive Invitational, Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, OH
The Art of Wood: Outside the Box, Holter Museum, Helena, MT
Is Ornament a Crime? Re-thinking the Role of Decoration in Contemporary Wood, SOFA Exhibition, Chicago, IL 2009
Days of Spring, Moments of Intimate Connections, Fuller Museum, Brockton, MA
Fall Perspective, Lovetts Gallery, Tulsa ,OK
Wood Invitational, Blue Spiral, Ashville, NC
Sarah Myerscough Gallery, London, UK
Transformation, Society of Arts and Crafts, Pittsburgh, PA
SOFA Exposition, Santa Fe, NM 2008
Over the Edge, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID,br> In the Palm of Your Hand CFC, Rockport, ME
New West Coast Design, San Francisco Museum of Craft And Design, San Francisco, CA
Collect, Sarah Myerscough Fine Art, London, UK 2007
Far from the Tree, Messler Gallery, Rockport, ME
Craft In America: Expanding Craft Traditions, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR
Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, CA
Open/ Closed, AAW Gallery, St. Paul, MN
Turning Green, AAW Symposium, Portland, OR 2006
Wood Now, Craft Alliance, St. Louis, MO
Woodturning on the Edge, The University of Idaho, Pritchard Gallery, Moscow, ID
Our Turn Now: Artists Speak Out in Wood, Ohio Crafts Museum, Columbus, OH
SOFA Exhibition, Chicago, IL
SOFA Exhibition, New York, NY
Turning Wood into Art, Sarah Myerscough Gallery, London, UK 2005
Nature Transformed, The University of Michigan Art Gallery, Ann Arbor, MI
Artists’ Reflections, WTC, Philadelphia, PA
Art Invitational, Great American Art Company, Tacoma, WA
Wood Sculpture: A Rhythmic Weave of the Elements, Upstairs Gallery, Tryon, NC
Featured Artist, Davis & Cline, Ashland, OR
Featured Artist, Kebanu, Bend, OR 2004
Celebrating Nature: Craft Traditions/Contemporary Expressions, Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles, CA
Out of the Woods, Atlanta Airport, Atlanta, GA
Sitka Invitational, Portland, OR
25 Years of Woodturning, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT
A Tribute to Bob Stocksdale, CCG, Portland, OR
Collect: Victoria and Albert Museum, Sarah Myerscough Gallery, London, UK 2003
Contemporary Turned Wood: A Tribute to Rudi Osolnik, Kentucky Museum of Art and Design, Louisville, KY
Selected Works: del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Into the Woods, Long Beach Art Museum, Long Beach, CA
Across the Grain, Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL 2002
Modern Bestiary: Artists’ View of the Animal Kingdom, Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, WI
Surface and Form: Craftwest Gallery, Perth, Australia
Hot Tea!, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Collectors Choice: Collectors of Wood Art Forum, SOFA, Chicago, IL
Contemporary Wood Invitational, American Art Company, Tacoma, WA 2001
Woodturning in North America since 1930, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN
The Renwick Gallery, Washington, DC
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT
Challenge VI-Roots: Insights and Inspirations in Contemporary Turned Objects, Berman Museum, Collegeville, PA
Against the Grain: Turned and Sculpted Wood, The MacAllen International Museum, McAllen, TX 2000
Inventions & Constructions, Craftmen Gallery, Jacksonville, FL
Living with Form, The Horn Collection of Contemporary Craft, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR
Distinctive Visions, Connell Gallery, Atlanta, GA 1999
SOFA, New York, NY
SOFA, Chicago, IL
Smithsonian Craft Show, Washington, DC
Profile, Duane Reed Gallery, St. Louis, MO and Chicago, IL
Forms in Wood, Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston, MA
Multiples, Craft Alliance, St. Louis, MO 1998
Turned Wood, Small Treasures, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1997
Masterworks from the Wornick Collection, Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA
Turning in Context, Ursinus College, Collegeville, PA
Beyond Tradition, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR 1996
Museum fur Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, Germany 1994
Redefining the Lathe Turned Object III, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
Challenge V: International Lathe Turned Objects, Berman Museum of Fine Arts, Collegeville, PA 1992
Turning Plus, Redefining the Lathe Turned Object, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 1991
Turned Vessels Defined, Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston, MA
Challenge VI: International Lathe Turned Objects, Port of History Museum, Philadelphia, PA 1990
Woodturning: Vision and Concept, Arrowmont School, Gatlinburg, TN
Featured Artist, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA PUBLICATIONS
Wood Art Today 2, Schiffer Publications
Craft in America, Lauri/Fenton
Masters of Woodturning, Lark
Contemporary Crafts, Imogen Racz GB
Shy Boy, She Devil and Isis, Wornick Collection
Sacred Vessels, CLAL
Celebrating Nature, CFAM
Craft Arts, Australia
CRAFT, South Korea
American Craft Oct/Nov 1991
Woodturning Magazine, 94, 95, 99, 01
American Woodturner, 94, 95, 97, 01
Turning Wood into Art, Mason Collection, 2000
Expressions in Wood, Masterworks, 1997
The Art of Craft, 1999
Contemporary Turned Wood, 1999
The Fine Art of Wood, 2000
Drechseln, 1995, 1998, Germany
Living with Form, The Horn Collection
Woodturning since 1930, Yale University Press COMMISSIONS
The Four Seasons, Jackson Hole, WY
The Viceroy, Snowmass, CO
Oregon Arts Commission, Santiam Forestry Center, OR
Presbyterian Seminary, Louisville, KY
The Venetian Casino and Hotel, Las Vegas, NV
Orlando Hilton, Orlando, FL
The Ritz Carlton, Shenzen, China COLLECTIONS
American Decorative Arts at Yale University, New Haven, CT
Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI
Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA
Museum of Fine Art, Boston, MA
Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, WA
North Carolina State University, Gregg Museum of Art & Design, Raleigh, NC
Arizona Sate University Museum of Art, Tempe, AR
Museum of Art and Design, New York, NY
Art for Embassies Program, Washington, DC
Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN
Detroit Art Museum, Detroit, MI
de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA
Fuller Museum of Art, Brockton, MA
LA County Museum, Los Angeles, CA
Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA
Royal Cultural Center, Jedda, Saudi Arabia
Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC
Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL
Museum for Contemporary Art, Honolulu, HI
Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Stanford University Art Gallery, Palo Alto, CA
University Of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI
Wood Turning Center, Philadelphia, PA AWARDS
2009 Raphael Prize, "Transformation", Pittsburgh, PA
1997 Oregon Arts Commission Fellowship EDUCATION
1974-75 Furniture Apprenticeship, Hamburg, Germany
1977-78 Sculpture, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
1978-79 Sculpture, Emily Carr College, Vancouver, B.C.
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