The Artist, Jeff Loucks, creates unique artwork using various techniques and types of mediums such as exotic woods, concrete, metals, dyes and paints. He is noted for his imaginative and primitive-type abstract totems and sculptures. He starts by sculpting and carving the wood pieces, he then burns the abstract form using an ancient Japanese technique called Shou Sugi Ban that preserves wood by charring it. He finalizes the abstract form by abrading it to reveal the different densities within the wood. This intensive process ends in a final product that is not only beautiful, but is also resilient with defined primitive characteristics.
Jeff Loucks started out by being known as one of the best finish carpenters around. In time he evolved into one of the most unique woodturners/sculptors earning the first place prize in woodworking at the Corn Hill Arts Festival in Rochester, NY in 2022 and again in 2023!
Jeff carved a 20-foot abstract obelisk using a chainsaw and the Shou Sugi Ban technique on Star Lake in the Adirondack mountains. This was the first of his monumental carvings which catapulted him into a new endeavor. He subsequently was awarded the Individual Artist grant from the Arts Council of Wyoming County to carve a 16-foot obelisk on the historic Maplewood Road in Attica, NY.
You will often hear Jeff Loucks quote Lucius Annaeus Seneca, “All art is but imitation of nature.”