Loren Eiferman
My unique process begins with a drawing. Daily I gather sticks from the forest and debark the branch to reveal the shapes found within each branch. I then cut and joint small naturally formed shapes together. Next, all the open joints get filled with a putty, which once dried is then sanded till it’s smooth. This putty and sanding process is repeated at least three times. I want the work to appear as if it grew in nature, when in fact each sculpture is composed of hundreds of small pieces of wood that are meticulously crafted together. My work can be called the ultimate recycling: taking the detritus of nature and giving it a new life.
My current work is inspired by the illustrations found in the mysterious 15th century Voynich Manuscript. This manuscript was written in an unknown language, by an unknown author and filled with illustrations of plants and flowers that don’t exist in nature. These aren’t just pretty images of flowers—they also contain the wacky root systems and seemingly out of proportion leaves, petals, and rhizomes.
I was born in Brooklyn, NY and received my BFA from SUNY Purchase. My work has been exhibited extensively including gallery and museum exhibitions in NYC, the Hudson Valley and Connecticut, and is currently included in numerous corporate and private art collections. In 2014 I was awarded a NYC MTA Arts & Design commission for a Metro North train station. I currently maintain a studio in the Hudson Valley.
What initially sparked your interest in art?
I have always been interested in making things, even as a young child. I played for countless hours creating whole worlds with the simplest of found materials, but at the tender age of five I never thought of this play as “art”. During high school I discovered “art” and started taking classes at the Brooklyn Museum Art School. From that point on, art has been a constant means of expression and creating for me. I ended up getting my university degree in studio art and art history. After I graduated, I continued to create and have never stopped.
What connects your work together and what keeps you creating?
Every night right before I fall asleep, I have what best can be described as a Rolodex of images flash before my eyes. These are images and ideas of work that have yet to be made. The next morning, I go into my studio and start translating these “visions” that appeared to me the night before. I am in constant dialogue with these images and create almost daily. For me art is another language which I can express and visually transmit the questions that we all have.
Describe your work using three words.
Sculptural, organic, connections.
What are you most proud of as an artist, whether it’s a specific moment or who you are as an artist?
I have been working in wood for many decades. During that time much of my work has changed and evolved but has always remained wood-based. I have a favorite sculpture that I created many years ago that I have often thought about casting in bronze but never took any action, in part because the process would destroy the wood sculpture. However, this summer, I finally took the initiative and set about casting it in bronze at a local foundry. To me, I’ve always wanted to have my work live back in nature, where it originally came from, and casting it in bronze allows it to live outside. This was a big step for me that felt like I jumped out of a metaphorical window. In 2014, I designed a public art project of eight steel railings for a NYC MTA train station. That was the one work that has been seen by the greatest number of people, and one of the highlights of my life. But now casting my work seems to be an even bigger leap of faith and investment in myself that I am proud to have finally taken.
If you could be in a two-person exhibition with any artist from history, who would it be and why?
For the past eight years, I have been obsessively translating illustrations from a mysterious 15thcentury manuscript called the “Voynich Manuscript” into wood sculptures. This manuscript currently housed at Yale’s Beinicke Library was written in an unknown language, by an unknown author and filled with illustrations of plants that don’t quite exist in nature. I would actually love to exhibit my sculptural woodwork next to these strange yet beautiful illustrations. No one actually knows who the artist is that created this manuscript. And, for all of these centuries between the creation of the manuscript until today, no one has been able to decipher its meaning or purpose. So there isn’t exactly an artist that can be named that I would like to exhibit with, just the extraordinary and powerful artwork from this enigmatic manuscript.
