He who works with his hands is a laborer. He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman. He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist.

St. Francis of Assisi

William Tunberg

I recently drove down to Pasadena from the San Francisco Bay Area with my youngest son, Kenneth. After leaving Ken at his friend’s home, I drove down the 405 to the peaceful neighborhood in Venice, CA where Bill Tunberg lives with his wife Camille. Their home is modern and filled with art and design and ambient light. The Tunbergs were both hard at work, getting ready for a show in Hawaii later this year. They graciously gave me a tour of their adjacent living, gallery and studio spaces. After this I sat down with William Tunberg to conduct an interview – I’ll be publishing this in a separate post.

"Sliced" - A Marquetry Wall Sculpture by William Tunberg - 2011 - Marquetry 55 x 51 x 5 in.

William Tunberg explained that his first love in art is drawing, his second is sculpture and both of these combine  into the amazing marquetry and inlay pieces that have become his signature form of expression. His art is deeply rooted in Surrealist and Cubist instincts, drawing from figurative imagery, mythology and symbols that he fragments and reassembles in ways that demand the viewer’s full participation.

His first encounter with marquetry came through the work of one of the art form’s luminaries, Pierre Ramond. [I found it interesting that like Silas Kopf*, he arrived at marquetry after studying architecture and sculpture. - KD] At first he felt awed by the high levels of craftsmanship in the 17th century French and German marquetry; but he also felt stimulated. He loved how they solved all manner of technical challenges with great ingenuity. But it was the fifteenth century perspective intarsia from Italy that moved him most deeply, especially one of its most masterful expressions, the Studiolo from the Ducal Palace at Gubbio (c.1439-1502).

"Bird of Paradise" - 2011 - Marquetry 34 x 81 x 6 in. (Click Image to Enlarge)

“Bird of Paradise” is one of the marquetry sculptures that William is preparing for the Hawaii show. The forms of Hawaiian flora are deeply meaningful for both William Tunberg and his wife Camille Shaheen-Tunberg. The show “Hawaii’s Alfred Shaheen: Fabric to Fashion” will open at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center in September, 2011. The exhibit honors the courage and accomplishment of Alfred Shaheen*, Camille’s father and William Tunberg’s close friend. The Bird of Paradise and Monstara Leaf motifs derive from Shaheen designs.

*Alfred Shaheen, the man responsible for bringing aloha wear and textiles to the wider world.

[*One of Silas Kopf's many unique characteristics is that he loves to wear Aloha shirts and he even depicted one of his favorite designs - sea horses and seaweed - in his "Aloha Shirt Cabinet" - 2003. I can't wait to compare notes with Silas Kopf & Camille Shaheen-Tunberg to see if the design is from a Shaheen original! - KD]

The Completed "Monstera Leaves" Screen (Click image to enlarge)

Regarding the Monstera leaf and my use of organic forms and ethnic imagery in marquetry, I’m influenced by Alfred Shaheen, who pioneered the Hawaiian fashion industry in the 1940s-1950s.  Shaheen was a very close friend, and he was inspirational in my efforts to adapt marquetry to fine art sculpture by encouraging me to experiment and take risks.  Because of our relationship, it’s very natural for me to include Shaheen imagery when I’m laying out marquetry designs.  For example, I took a Shaheen tiki image from the early-50s, abstracted that image, and created a series of marquetry sculptures that is now traveling with Shaheen’s museum retrospective.  The next Shaheen exhibit opens in Maui at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center on Sunday, September 4, 2011.

William Tunberg

Bird of Paradise - Detail - 2011 - Marquetry 34 x 81 x 6 in.

Here are a few technical notes about William Tunberg’s sculptural marquetry art pieces: