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©Martin Varela Umpierrez
©Martin Varela Umpierrez
©Martin Varela Umpierrez
©Martin Varela Umpierrez
©Martin Varela Umpierrez

Verónica Clavelli

  • Woodcarver
  • Montevideo, Uruguay
  • Rising Star
Verónica Clavelli Woodcarver
Contact
Spanish
Hours:
By appointment only
Phone:
+598 98700111
©Martin Varela Umpierrez

Carving everyday dynamics

  • • Verónica hand carves wooden caricature sculptures
  • • The city is her main source of inspiration
  • • Her workshop opened in 2015

With a degree in Applied and Visual Arts from the Labour University of Uruguay in the discipline of wood carving, Verónica Clavelli understands her craft as a form of communication and expression. Verónica has been researching wood carving for more than 20 years and won the National Crafts Prize of Uruguay more than once. Her pieces have two lines to her practice. On one hand, she carves wooden animals such as cows, cats, or turtles, which she considers to be her more commercial pieces. On the other hand, she also works on pieces where she gives free rein to her more artistic side: these are human representations carved in wood. These urban characters portray the people of Montevideo, a city with more than 1.3 million inhabitants. "Direct carving is a very old craft everywhere in the world, my innovation is in that search for freedom of the caricaturist", says Verónica. "Ultimately it explores the plastic possibilities of the material as well as the drawing, and the demystifying of wood".

Read the full interview

Works

  • ©Martin Varela Umpierrez
  • ©Martin Varela Umpierrez
  • ©Martin Varela Umpierrez
  • ©Martin Varela Umpierrez
  • ©Martin Varela Umpierrez
Photo: ©Martin Varela Umpierrez
Psychologist

This piece represents a seated psychologist, writing in her notebook with a pen that is a nail. The style is cartoon-like and mixes curved lines and planes. Hand carved, this sculpture is composed with different types of wood such as pink cedar, American pine, mara cedar and cerejeira. The woods were chosen for their colour and grain to give the piece more strength.

Photo: ©Martin Varela Umpierrez
Fishermen Rambla Sur

This is a caricature sculpture representing a typical scene of the city of Montevideo. It is a group of four amateur fishermen sitting at Rambla Sur in front of the Río de la Plata. Carved by hand, they conserve the memory of the tool in their angular cuts.

Photo: ©Martin Varela Umpierrez
Women's peloton

This piece represents a female cycling peloton. It has a lot of colour, various shades of yellow mixed with orange and some purple. The drawing of this piece is of a great movement given by the wheels stretching forward and the crouching cyclists dodging the wind that blows in their hair.

Photo: ©Martin Varela Umpierrez
Dog walker

This wooden sculpture in natural tones represents a typical scene of any neighbourhood in Montevideo. The woman's hair and shirt are made of timbó wood, a detail that makes it special. It preserves the cuts of the tool with which it was carved. This work celebrates leisure and free time.

Photo: ©Martin Varela Umpierrez
Photographer

In this sculpture, special care was taken with the combination of woods. The photographer's trousers are a combined block of 6 types of wood mixed together. The shirt is olive wood and the arms and face are made of pink cedar. The natural tones are combined with a subtle shade of orange in the hair and the black of the camera.

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