TURNING POINT, at the Lower Gallery EPSAC, until July 31. Reviewed by Cornelia le Roux
THIS wonderfully versatile exhibition is professional wood turner and artist Nico Swart’s fifth since starting to uncover the beauty of wood on his lathe in 1994. As evidence of the widespread popularity of his work, he exhibited On the Count of Twelve in the William Humphreys Art Gallery in Kimberley and in 2007 one of his turned vases was awarded the Dave MacGregor Trophy at Epsac’s annual exhibition.

According to Swart doing wood turning is “an absolutely amazing voyage of discovery”, and when one walks through his latest offerings, one becomes a part of this wonderful world of wood – “wow”. Amazing grain patterns and wilful waves are exposed and the ultra-smooth bark begs for one’s touch.
The work on display ranges from precise, high-quality turned pieces including beautiful bowls, a “phases of the moon” mural series, stunning hollow vases, drift wood and sculptural pieces.
One of the works, called Death in the Family is a striking display of four figurines carved from pine which was burnt in a fire in North End. Sorrow is depicted by the soot still present on the wood in places and the year rings “hang” on their “bodies” like mourning robes.
Helmet – a Spartan-like carved helmet on a hilt made from jacaranda with reddish brown spikes from African padauk – also demands attention. The same goes for Coelacanth – a sculpture from a piece of the old Cape Town Harbour’s jetty – wet oak brought to South Africa from England. This made it easy for beetles to bore holes to their little hearts’ content, causing a wonderful effect of “decay” on the sculpture with its stainless steel fin.
And the best part? Everything comes at an affordable price!