What’s on your bench? Spotlight on Wanda Gillespie

What are you currently working on?

I’m working on a figurative sculpture of lady walking carrying a dog. It’s been an on and off project that I have been meaning to finish. I took the reference photos 2 years ago and it was part of an idea to make a series of figures crossing a river, born out of terrible floods we had had in Aotearoa at the start of the 2023. A few months later there were images of families fleeing Gaza and it felt like these figures I had begun creating were a kind of prescient foreknowing of what was to come. I started to see these figures as tapping into other moments of displacement. The bush fires here have been on my mind and I am thinking of burning the bottom half of the figure, somehow like the regenerating burnt forests we have driven through in a recent holiday. The carving is in Himalayan cedar. 

What materials or techniques are you exploring right now?

It’s the first time I’ve carved an animal and I’ve really enjoyed it. I like the idea of possibly incorporating mythical creatures into my work. The dog was a bit of a challenge having never carved or sculpted one before. I ended up buying a little toy dog as a reference which was really helpful. It’s also my first time carving the himalayan cedar. It’s quite nice to carve though like learning to work with any new wood, there have been moments of chip outs.

What’s inspiring this work?

Beyond my earlier musings, I have been wanting to explore figurative sculpture more in my work. I have looked at historical carvings. I love the German 

Tilman Riemenschneider and I also enjoy looking at Romanesque wood carving for inspiration.

What’s been the most rewarding (or frustrating) part so far?

I put this one on hold for a while because I was having trouble with the arm holding the dog. It’s a bit tricky because the sleeve is very baggy and has a lot of folds. I had a moment where it looked like she had two elbows. I ended up hiding part of her hand in the dog fur, (a suggestion from some other woodcarvers while on a woodcarving camp a few weeks ago). I’m currently working on the face which is quite tricky at such a small scale. I definitely prefer doing larger faces.

What tool could you not do without for this project?

I’m using all the tools, chisels, dremel etc. I have been using quite small tools like the Pfeil 2/5, 2/3 and 7/2 and I’ve also been using a beaver craft knife around the mouth.

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