Russell Nigro

Russell Nigro, a New England native and student of architecture, began wood working in Crested Butte Colorado building luxury homes, furniture and cabinets under the direction of John Stock at High Mountain Concepts.

Working from his home studio and woodshop in Bernard, ME, his bowls give second life to wood with local history creating beauty and function from material that might otherwise be discarded.

Nigro draws inspiration from experience working with pottery as well as allowing the unique characteristics of each piece of wood to influence the final form.

He finds the use of traditional hand tools to be a rewarding process, that forms a deep connection between artist and wood. Each bowl is crafted without the use of powerful tools or sandpaper, using only hand tools and traditional card scraping techniques to create and refine each shape.

“I find inspiration in the forms I create from my past experience with pottery. I’m inspired to create forms both beautiful and elegant with careful use of thickness and proportion. I begin my process with a large heavy piece of wood, and create something that achieves a delicate, weightlessness.

Unlike other woodworking processes, where wood is assembled to construct the final product, The bowl carving process is deconstructive, and involves both brute force and a delicate touch”