Alain Mailland
biography |
portfolio | artists listing
b. 1959, Ivory Coast, Africa
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
The Antik Collection
The Bohlen Collection
The Bressler Collection
Coral Springs Museum, Coral Springs, FL
Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI
Foundation H 2000 Collection, France
Gallery Yamaguchi Collection, Japan
The Kaye Collection
The Kaiser Collection
The Kochman Collection
Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA
The Mason Collection
Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL
Musée des Pays de l’Ain, France
New York Museum of Art & Design, New York, NY
The Townsend Collection
University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI
Woodturning Center, Portland, OR
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2004-08 Hot Tea!, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2003-08 Selected Works, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2008 Collectors of Wood Art Forum, Scottsdale, AZ
2002-07 Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art Exposition, New York, NY
Turned & Sculptured Wood, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2001-07 Turned Wood – Small Treasures, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art Exposition, Featured Artist 2003, Chicago, IL
2007 A en Perdre la Boule…et Pourtant Elle Tourne, Galerie de l’Hôtel de Ville,
Yverdon-Les-Bains, Switzerland
2006 Alain Mailland, Solo Exhibition, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Our Turn Now: Artists Speak Out in Wood, Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, OH
Espace Arts et Objets, Saint Prex, Suisse
2004 Nature Transformed; Wood Art from The Bohlen Collection, University of Michigan
Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI
2003 Collectors of Wood Art Forum, Santa Fe, NM
2002 Surface + Form, Craftwest Gallery, Perth, Australia
2000 The Fine Art of Wood; Wood Art from The Bohlen Collection, Detroit Institute of Arts,
Detroit, MI
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
2004 Nature Transformed;Wood Art from The Bohlen Collection, Hudson Hills
2000 The Fine Art of Wood: The Bohlen Collection, Abbeville Press
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Alain Mailland was born on the Ivory Coast and moved with his family back to France when he was five years old. From age twenty to twenty-two, he studied at the National Art School of Cergy-Pontoise. Although he worked as a mason and carpenter in building construction, it was not until he was twenty-eight that he took his first course in
woodturning.
He began his own shop specializing in interior woodworking: stairs, cabinetry and verandas. During this time he continued to turn wood as an amateur. In the early 1990’s, Mailland slowly changed his focus from interior carpentry to turning and has since done nothing but lathe work.
Mailland soon developed his own distinctive style and technique, particularly in hollowing. He began showing and selling his work at exhibitions and other craft venues. As his work matured, he continued learning, taking courses with other notable turners such as Andre Martel, Michael Hosaluk, and Terry Martin.
He has quickly gained a reputation for his very distinctive work and has been exhibiting and demonstrating internationally.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
All my work is based on the beauty of wood. I mainly use roots from my countryside because they are so colorful, and I need very fine burls to get these very fragile pieces. I consider that there is a correspondence between all the species living on Earth. For example, you can find animal or mineral shapes in roots and vegetable forms, and in stone or bones. We humans are linked with all things growing on the Earth. That is what I feel when I make my sculptures. These creatures seem to be alive, because I first turn growing shapes, like flower shapes. I reproduce the expansion of a flower or all circular structures that you can find in the universe. For me the birth of these objects is the incarnation of a dream.
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
The Antik Collection
The Bohlen Collection
The Bressler Collection
Coral Springs Museum, Coral Springs, FL
Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI
Foundation H 2000 Collection, France
Gallery Yamaguchi Collection, Japan
The Kaye Collection
The Kaiser Collection
The Kochman Collection
Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA
The Mason Collection
Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL
Musée des Pays de l’Ain, France
New York Museum of Art & Design, New York, NY
The Townsend Collection
University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI
Woodturning Center, Portland, OR
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2004-08 Hot Tea!, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2003-08 Selected Works, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2008 Collectors of Wood Art Forum, Scottsdale, AZ
2002-07 Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art Exposition, New York, NY
Turned & Sculptured Wood, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2001-07 Turned Wood – Small Treasures, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art Exposition, Featured Artist 2003, Chicago, IL
2007 A en Perdre la Boule…et Pourtant Elle Tourne, Galerie de l’Hôtel de Ville,
Yverdon-Les-Bains, Switzerland
2006 Alain Mailland, Solo Exhibition, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Our Turn Now: Artists Speak Out in Wood, Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, OH
Espace Arts et Objets, Saint Prex, Suisse
2004 Nature Transformed; Wood Art from The Bohlen Collection, University of Michigan
Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI
2003 Collectors of Wood Art Forum, Santa Fe, NM
2002 Surface + Form, Craftwest Gallery, Perth, Australia
2000 The Fine Art of Wood; Wood Art from The Bohlen Collection, Detroit Institute of Arts,
Detroit, MI
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
2004 Nature Transformed;Wood Art from The Bohlen Collection, Hudson Hills
2000 The Fine Art of Wood: The Bohlen Collection, Abbeville Press
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Alain Mailland was born on the Ivory Coast and moved with his family back to France when he was five years old. From age twenty to twenty-two, he studied at the National Art School of Cergy-Pontoise. Although he worked as a mason and carpenter in building construction, it was not until he was twenty-eight that he took his first course in
woodturning.
He began his own shop specializing in interior woodworking: stairs, cabinetry and verandas. During this time he continued to turn wood as an amateur. In the early 1990’s, Mailland slowly changed his focus from interior carpentry to turning and has since done nothing but lathe work.
Mailland soon developed his own distinctive style and technique, particularly in hollowing. He began showing and selling his work at exhibitions and other craft venues. As his work matured, he continued learning, taking courses with other notable turners such as Andre Martel, Michael Hosaluk, and Terry Martin.
He has quickly gained a reputation for his very distinctive work and has been exhibiting and demonstrating internationally.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
All my work is based on the beauty of wood. I mainly use roots from my countryside because they are so colorful, and I need very fine burls to get these very fragile pieces. I consider that there is a correspondence between all the species living on Earth. For example, you can find animal or mineral shapes in roots and vegetable forms, and in stone or bones. We humans are linked with all things growing on the Earth. That is what I feel when I make my sculptures. These creatures seem to be alive, because I first turn growing shapes, like flower shapes. I reproduce the expansion of a flower or all circular structures that you can find in the universe. For me the birth of these objects is the incarnation of a dream.