\u201cIt\u2019s very much a creative dialogue,\u201d says the man who talks to trees.\u00a0Hugo Franca\u00a0<\/strong>is a renowned Brazilian sculptor who fashions furniture out of logs. Revered for their majesty and complexity, his works are displayed in museums and galleries around the world. Franca is one of 45 artists invited this year to participate in the third\u00a0Vancouver Biennale<\/strong>, a celebration of global interconnectedness through music, dance, sculpture and film. Franca has chosen to refashion five Douglas Fir logs washed up\u00a0along\u00a0the\u00a0BC\u00a0coast and transported by barge and truck to a beach on the city\u2019s west side.<\/p>\n

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Starting the process (Day 1)<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Breathing new life into a piece of flotsam is nothing new for the former engineer turned sculptor.\u00a0\u00a0Leaving his desk job in S\u00e3o Paulo in 1980 to learn woodworking from the indigenous tribes of Bahia, he spent 15 years in the jungle refining his craft and as a result takes a reverential, almost spiritual, approach to the task. He lets the natural contours of the wood dictate its ultimate shape. In effect he lets the material talk to him.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0Carving with a chainsaw (Day 01)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u201cThese logs have already given me an idea of what they want to be,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s a very intuitive process based on a creative dialogue with the raw material. My main inspiration is always the tree and the story of each tree. \u201d<\/p>\n

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Hugo Franca (right) with his assistant (left) on Day 04<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Hugo Franca<\/strong><\/p>\n

He marks up the logs in chalk. That determines the where the cuts will be but that can change. He often\u00a0deviates from his rough sketches. A knot in the wood? A piece of rot? No problem. He incorporates the imperfection into the design, cutting around it. \u201cWe usually use a curvy cut to better fit with the organic forms, the natural shape of the trees. A straight cut is a little too invasive in my conception. You have to go with the wood.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Franca supervises a cut during bench creation process (Day 04)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Working with his two assistants, Jhony Dos Anjos and Jailton Procopiox, Franca directs the operation as if he were an orchestra conductor. The fact he\u2019s using a chainsaw, which is normally associated with cutting down trees not re-purposing them, isn\u2019t lost on him. \u201cIt\u2019s a new use for the chainsaw,\u201d he says. \u201cWe are, in essence, using it to reverse the process, as a sculptural tool \u2013to create.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Taking Shape (Day 06)<\/strong><\/p>\n

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More carving (Day 06)<\/strong><\/p>\n

And then as suddenly as the process begins, it\u2019s over. Franca \u201cknows\u201d when to stop. Sanding the pieces accentuates the warm reddish tones which, when it rains, are particularly striking.<\/p>\n

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Large Bench takes shape (Day 06)<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Sanding (Day 10)<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Almost<\/b>\u00a0finished (Day 10)<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\nThe third Vancouver Biennale continues through to spring 2016. Now that Franca\u2019s art works are completed, the event\u2019s organizers are hoping to retain three of them as legacy pieces, likely placed throughout Metro Vancouver so the public can enjoy them forever.<\/p>\n

Watch the video featuring the construction process<\/p>\n