During my first year at Art School when studying the ways of Interior Design, we were encouraged to use our imaginations and lateral thinking processes. Our creations in those early days were meant to be wild and wacky, with the onus on being as creative and original as possible. The more traditional and functional aspects of Interior Design and Décor came later. I was reminded of these expressive weeks and months when I came across the work of Henrique Oliveira.
The inspiration for Oliveira’s work comes from his own student days in the Brazilian city of São Paulo. There, whilst gazing out of the window, he would notice the painted plywood fence begin to fade and peel in the sun. This led to him creating 3-dimensional sculptural forms which mimicked the patterns, colors and shapes he had seen. In fact, when the very fences in question were taken down, he used the wood as part of his final senior show. The results would inspire further his art and also put the name Henrique Oliveira onto the world stage.
Nowadays, the Brazilian designer finds most of his materials from scrapyards and dumpsters in São Paulo. With these he develops forms largely based on techniques and principles used in architecture, painting and sculpture. A PVC skeleton is used as the framework of most pieces which is then covered with scrap wood and other found materials. The majority of the wood he chooses is either already splitting or in some form of decay.
One of his most well known pieces, at least in the United States, is the collection of mattresses and pillows from the Katrina disaster, which have been turned into a giant sculpture. See image directly above.
You can see many more images like the ones shown here on the designer’s website found here: Henrique Oliveira.
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hello i injoy your work .i work with wood,too.