The Other Carpenter’s Shop

Описание

This is my interpretation of John Everett Millais’ “Christ in the House of his Father” which is permanently housed in Tate Britain, London.
I discovered it on a social media site and was drawn to it instantly. I was moved by the innocent expressions of the boy and the love shown by his mother. I felt a connection with the warmth radiating from this humble carpenter’s shop, drawing parallels to my own family and workshop.
I knew nothing of the symbolism and public uproar created by Millais’ work until it was explained to me by an artist friend from England, several weeks after I had begun working on the mosaic. I have great respect for all faiths, and the more I learned about this painting the more fascinated I became. Yet there is a sense that both the original painting by Millais and my Wood Mosaic have transcended religious barriers. Although the original painting has a powerful individual message, they share a very human message of love, warmth, and spirituality, common to all faiths.
All the lines and shapes of the mosaics were cut using the hand saw and pieced together like a jigsaw highlighting the light, shade, colors, shapes, and textures of the intended image. I follow traditional Iranian wood mosaic techniques, allowing the beauty, natural color, and grain of the wood to shine in all its glory.

Incredibly, at least 20 varieties of wood have been used to make this piece. I used
light walnut, dark walnut, and boxwood, along with wood from mulberry, persimmon, pistachio, juniper, hornbeam, orange, acacia, jujube, apricot, plum, cedar, hawthorn, sycamore, maple, and barberry trees. The wood from the Angelica or Ironwood tree, often referred to as Evangelical Wood was also used, which is quite fitting. The frame is made of dark walnut wood and the logo of hornbeam, walnut, jujube, orange, hawthorn, and spruce.

Resin has been used to protect “The Other Carpenter’s Shop” from insects and moisture.

Such a wide variety of woods make this work very special and unique.

All wood used is from locally sourced, non-living trees, to protect the environment.