"Vali" Sculpture

Michael Thomas Pliner was a career pharmacist until he discovered the lathe. After 40 years of never coloring outside the lines, he exposed a latent talent: fashioning unique designs from commonplace cuts of wood.

He was raised in Iowa, attended the University of Iowa and practiced pharmacy in Iowa and Minnesota eventually settling in Minneapolis, MN.

Getting a lathe was a whim for several years. He didn't know how to use one or what he would use it for exactly. The lathe called to him so he was drawn to his art by an invisible thread.

He distills his ideas from the shape of the wood, the heft of the wood and whatever is going through his mind. He keeps a drawing pad by his side to record inspiration of compositions he'd like to try. Everything is freehand. He has a shop in his home where he produces these appealing and vivid works; you will never see two of the same.

He has been producing wood art for ten years but this is his first exposure to the public. Most of these pieces have been seen only by family members!