Brian Crossman
Sculptor of timber

I’ve been an avid woodworker since my teens making furniture and carving. As a new migrant to Australia some 35 years ago, one of my first impressions was the beauty of its trees and majestic redgums. In the past many of these trees were used for railway sleepers and heavy construction but now these sustainable woods are being used more and more in furniture.  I enjoy the challenge of working with such tricky but beautiful woods with their temperamental grains and unpredictable gum veins.

I have published a couple of articles in ‘The Australian Woodworker’ and ‘Woodcarving’ and over the years transitioned from furniture to concentrate more on sculpting.
Currently I’m in a retro phase being influenced by Brancusi, Hepworth and the constructivists.
Another influence is my science background with some of the abstracts being based on the polygons of cyclic molecules. I also name torsos with the Greek letters used in science. 

“Gamma”
Marri (from WA) and resin 67 cms tall
“Bi”
Made from a salvaged plum tree and aluminium, the title is based on the different colours and grains that can occur in a tree.
62cm tall
“Mu”
Made from recycled Oregon and coloured MDF -a material made from sawdust.
64cms tall
“Phenanthrene”
Recycled redgum railway sleeper and aluminium with traces of resin. Based on the chemical formula and three joined hexagons of the chemical phenanthrene.
53 cms tall
$1200
“Phenanthrene with wabi sabi”  –  Recycled redgum & aluminium 47 cms tall $1100
“Benzene”
Recycled redgum railway sleeper and aluminium.  Based on the chemical formula and hexagonal shape of benzene
62 cm tall
$990
“Dreamweaver” 
Marri and stainless steel. Just trying to make a pleasing abstract with a pleasing name. Sometimes it reminded me of a sailing ship and sometimes Broome’s Staircase to the Moon.
41cm tall x 67 cm wide
$2400
“Tribute to Brancusi” 
Marri and resin. When studying chemistry, I started to read books on art and Brancusi’s Bird in Space was the inspiration for me to become a sculptor. Being an inveterate ‘gonna’, I’m gonna do this, I’m gonna do that, it has only taken 50 years to complete my version of this 20th century classic.
110cms tall 
$2400