Hope

The monumental Hope, one of Wendell Castle’s masterpieces from his late career, shows two carved wooden seats, counterbalanced against amorphous spires that burst from the ground. As seen in the exposed grain of the wood, Hope is made via Castle’s self-invented lamination technique, involving stacking layers of wood on top of each other and carving directly into it. This gave the artist ultimate control over the unique shapes of his artworks and allowed him to expand the parameters of how it is possible to shape wood.