Georgios Georgiou

Georgios Georgiou – Born in Larnaka, Cyprus. Educated and worked in UK. Took early retirement from college lecturing to bicycle around Asia and now carving and cycling.

In 2007 I made my first carving in India, using alabaster and 3 carving tools and was excited to produce a polished object that was previously an inert rough piece of rock. This sparked a desire to perform further transformations of pieces of alabaster. When my supply of alabaster fragments was exhausted I purchased some wood chisels and began carving driftwood I collected from rivers and seas especially pieces that showed evidence of prolonged immersion and weathering.
The things I make are all hand carved using Balinese axes, chisels, gouges and knives. I carve using the direct method, drawing my image on the wood then begin carving and drawing again as necessary. Unlike wood artists in Asia who select their timber species and size according to the object they want to make, I select material that has potential interest for its shape, colour, grain, indication of previous history, and ease of carving. Using this old and discarded material allows an eco-friendly element to my work while also presenting a challenge to the notions of beauty and viewing a thing...