Wave Dancer by Derek Bencomo

Hawaiian koa wood
6.5" h x 24" w  x 18" d

"*Hawaiian koa wood is getting harder and harder to get and its getting a bit too expensive to work with," shares Derek. "I carved the curves all the way to the center of this piece, first time I have done this. The piece reflects more light across the inside." 

Derek Bencomo is an artist from Maui, Hawaii, whose fine woodworking has been widely collected by museums across the US for the last 30 years. His creations express a harmony with nature and life in Hawaii, successfully reflected in the movement and visual rhythm he finds in the wind, water and mountains. Always abstract, his work balances mass and lines, capturing a sense of motion, while the sculptural aspects mirror the figure of the wood. Over the last decade his work has shown dramatic growth from the tradition of woodturning, where bowl or vessel is the norm, to a sculptural approach that is distinctly original. His current works feature lines that curve and stretch out in three dimensions against the subtle backdrop of wood grain. The abstracted forms, with their flowing lines and patterns, are inspired by the natural beauty of a wave, stretch of beach, and endless horizon.

I think what is exciting about my work now is that I have moved in a direction that focuses on the sculptural elements of my work without being inhibited by the limits that the lathe obviously places on an object. - Derek Bencomo

*Hawaiian koa wood is endemic to the Islands and found nowhere else in the world. It grows at higher elevations on all major island, though much of its habitat has been converted to cattle land. The koa being used today comes from dead, salvaged, and dying trees, which is getting scarce.