听
Renowned Brazilian woodcarver Hugo Fran莽a admitted to being just a tiny bit overwhelmed by the reception he received in Squamish last week.
At an event on Thursday (March 27) marking the kickoff for the town鈥檚 involvement in the two-year-long Vancouver Biennale arts initiative, a smiling Fran莽a stood up in front of an overflow crowd at the Squamish Academy of Music to offer his thanks for the warm welcome on his first visit to Canada.
After the audience of around 120 people 鈥� educators, elected officials, business leaders and arts enthusiasts 鈥� listened with rapt attention to Fran莽a鈥檚 beautifully lilting Portuguese, the microphone was passed to Ta铆s Ribeiro, Fran莽a鈥檚 colleague and interpreter.
Ribeiro said Fran莽a 鈥渘ow feels more responsible about the results鈥� of the work he and his team were about to undertake at the 鈥渢eardrop鈥� property in downtown Squamish, 鈥渂ecause he can now see how important this project can be to this region, for Squamish.鈥�
The following morning, Fran莽a and his team 鈥� also including Jhony Dos Anjos and Jailton Procopio 鈥� braved a light drizzle to launch into the work of creating six pieces of distinctive 鈥渟culptural furniture鈥� from four large pieces of cedar wood that had been placed on the vacant lot in front of Squamish Elementary School.
Fran莽a is to be the first of three internationally renowned artists who will visit Squamish during the next two years 鈥斕齮he others being fellow Brazilian Vik Muniz, whose work was featured in the 2010 documentary film Waste Land, and Australian Konstantin Dimopoulos of 鈥淏lue Trees鈥� fame.
Squamish鈥檚 participation in the third Vancouver Biennale will also include visits from 15 to 20 up-and-coming 鈥渁rtists in residence鈥� from around the world.
Fran莽a was working as an industrial engineer for a computer company in the city of S茫o Paulo until 1981. At age 26, he moved to the community of Trancoso, in the northeastern coastal area of Bahia, to live among the indigenous Patax贸 people, according to a New York Times profile.
He began working with wood from tropical trees that had already fallen 鈥� the first few were actually canoes that had been discarded by the natives, Ribeiro said.
Franca鈥檚 work is featured in indoor and outdoor public spaces around the world, with the largest share at the Inhotim Instituto Cultural in Brumadinho, Brazil.听
Fittingly for Squamish, though, one of his main woodworking tools is a chainsaw, which he and his team use to carve out the basic form of the piece 鈥� normally a bench whose shape is determined by the natural form of the tree itself, with a helping hand from Franca鈥檚 creative instincts.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a new use for the chainsaw, which is normally used for cutting down,鈥� Fran莽a said. 鈥淲e are, in essence, using it to reverse the process, as a sculptural tool 鈥� to create.鈥�
In Brazil, Fran莽a normally works with 鈥減equi鈥� or souari nut wood, a tropical tree that produces an edible fruit, or with 鈥渋mbuia鈥� or Brazilian walnut. Both are hardwoods with lots of irregularities, which often results in complex, organically shaped pieces, he said.
Krisztina Egyed, Squamish liaison to Vancouver Biennale, said that before the group arrived on March 19, Squamish resident Bryan Couture identified about a dozen large fallen trees for possible use. Fran莽a and his team then chose from among them. Initially, both cedar and fir pieces were identified 鈥� but because fir trees often grow up with rocks inside their trunks, they decided to focus on the cedar.
Working with cedar is 鈥渓ike butter,鈥� Fran莽a said, adding that because it鈥檚 so different from what he鈥檚 used to, it will present its own challenges.
Fran莽a told The Chief each project is about striking a balance between what the fallen tree has to offer and his own creativity.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a balance between the heavy-ness of the material and the lightness of the drawing,鈥� Ribeiro said in translation. 鈥淚t鈥檚 difficult to explain, but it鈥檚 a very natural and organic process.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very much a creative dialogue.鈥�
Fran莽a鈥檚 team expected to wrap up its work in Squamish on Wednesday (April 2). Egyed said all of the pieces Fran莽a creates will remain here through the two-year Biennale period. After that, some will remain permanently in town and some will be sold, she said.
