The Beauty of Natural Wooden Human Sculptures

Passionate about sculpting human forms, Japanese artist, Nagato Iwasaki uses driftwood to create life-size human sculptures that are slightly creepy, yet beautiful.

Imagine yourself in a horror movie, face-to-face with a zombie. Scary, isn't it?

This nightmarish experience is probably what the humanoid sculptures by Nagato Iwasaki's 'Torso' evoke at a glance.

However, slowly, a sense of mystery sets in as you begin to look at each of these sculptures, standing tall with a distinct personality. It is then, that you start observing the details and begin to see the beauty in these life-like human figures made completely out of driftwood.

The warped wooden pieces are not bent, shaved or processed in any way. The talented artist uses wooden stakes to put the pieces together to create these stunning installations. Although faceless, these sculptures have indiscernible realism as individual pieces of wood, of varying shapes and sizes, fill the parts of the body naturally.

Every piece is built to stand on its own without support.

Placed in real-world environments, these sculptures appear to have a purpose of their own, silently still, yet being significant.

"Much like our own bodies will all one day rot away and return to the earth, so too will my pieces likely suffer a similar fate. Wood has that sort of "organic" appeal to it, and I believe that is why I was drawn to the concept of using driftwood to begin with," explains Nagato Iwasaki.