Moisés Hernández’s “Immersed Birds” series takes the art of wood carving to new heights, blending sleek craftsmanship with delicate artistry. These wooden sculptures, representing toucans, hummingbirds, and the magnificent Mexican quetzal, are more than mere decorative pieces; they are a symphony of form and color. Hernández harnesses the precision of CNC milling technology to shape each bird with immaculate detail, achieving a fluidity reminiscent of their natural grace. But it is the unique painting method that truly sets these sculptures apart. By delicately immersing each piece in layers of watercolor, the artist captures not just the vivid hues of avian plumage, but its ethereal translucence and stratified complexity. This method of immersion painting tailors each bird’s aesthetic, highlighting the unexpected beauty found at the confluence of technology and tradition.
The immersive painting process Hernández employs fosters a marriage between randomness and intention, producing sculptures with captivating, irreplicable patterns. With each dip into colored water, the wood absorbs tints in a manner that is both systematic and serendipitous, allowing for an enchanting play of shades and textures to unfold. This dynamic technique echoes the multifaceted layers of bird feathers, where light and color intermingle to define the avian allure. Furthermore, Hernández’s dedication to integrating both machine precision and human artistry in his work speaks to a broader commentary on the modern creative process; one where the rigidity of technology and the fluidity of human touch complement rather than compete. This innovative approach yields a collection that not only celebrates the splendor of the natural world but also prompts viewers to ponder the origins of beauty in the age of mechanized art.
In an attempt of generating a balanced dialogue between machine made and handmade objects, we made soft and continuous shapes milled with CNC technology contrasted with handmade painting done by immersion in coloured water, an experimental technique we developed for this project, which gives the birds a unique personality. This technique of painting allows to achieve an interesting texture of intersections and transparency made by layers of colour that resembles the plumage of birds. The amount of colour, hue and the way sections cross one another depends on the time and position the wood is plunged.
Moisés Hernández
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