For over sixteen years, master French artisan Pascal Oudet has relentlessly honed time-honored wood crafting techniques. Working at the foot of the French Alps in Grenoble, each of his sculptures sprouts in the nearby forest where he meticulously selects segments of oak. The artist turns and sculpts the oak using a lathe, to reveal the inner structure of the material. The resulting works are one-of-a-kind objets d’art that accentuate the grain and translucency of the natural medium.

Oudet's delicate paper-thin wood pieces have garnered the recognition of international collectors and institutions alike. His work has been included in numerous exhibitions around the world, including at the American Association of Woodturners, the French Woodturners Association, The Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles and Sarah Myerscough Gallery, London. Three of his pieces are in the permanent collection of the Museum of Arts and Design, New York. In 2012, the artist was awarded the prestigious “Grand Prix de la Création de la ville de Paris” (City of Paris’ Contemporary Artisans Award).

“Inspired by the stories and personalities of weathered wood, I have created a body of work called The Sand Collection. Each piece consists of a thin lace-like wood form made out of carefully chosen oak wood. I use meticulous woodturning and sandblasting processes to peel the wood down to skin-like thinness. The transparency achieved is mesmerizing to me as it reveals the history and the beauty of the tree.” — Pascal Oudet