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FO L LOW The exhibition includes more Driven by his lifelong passion for

than 100 life-size and larger-
than-life-size statues including creating, Koutantos uses locally sourced
wood—eucalyptus, lemon, olive, oak,
The Eagle and the Snake stone pine, cypress, mulberry, and
(2001) (below), the sculpture walnut—and traditional hammer-and-
that set in motion the events chisel techniques to create complex
that would ultimately lead to sculptures that capture different facets
the Museum’s establishment. of the Cretan and Greek psyche.

HIDDEN IN

THE GRAIN

Part art, part history and

part folk experience,
the Museum of Wooden
Sculptures in Axos

showcases the work of

self-taught local artist
Georgios Koutantos, who ed to tour the workshop and exhibition,
carves found wood to reveal guided by the artist himself, and to delve
into the region’s culture and heritage as
scenes from the island’s rich told through life-size wooden sculptures
that depict scenes from everyday life,
history and culture. folk traditions, legends, religion, and lo-
cal history.
Each sculpture is created using wood
from Crete—mostly whole logs harvest-
“The fact that I was wood was immensely satisfying,” he re- ed from uprooted or dead trees across
born and raised in a village and grew “IN WOODCARVING, calls, so he kept at it, working in the fam- the island—and carved with Koutantos’s
up surrounded by nature—my father AS IN LIFE, THE ily’s basement through his years in high favoured tools: a hammer and a set of
was a farmer and shepherd—has really school and, later, as an army conscript, chisels. The themes are varied but con-
shaped me as a person and an artist,” JOURNEY IS until his fellow villagers pushed him to nected by a common thread of identity;
says sculptor Georgios Koutantos, whose AT LEAST AS consider turning his passion into a pro- his work is inspired by his lived experi-
journey into art began when he was just fession. ence and his heritage as a Greek: every-
nine, with a lump of wild clay found in IMPORTANT AS Today, two decades after that fateful day life, local customs and nature, tradi-
a mountainside olive grove. The fascina- THE DESTINATION.” nudge, Koutantos’s work constitutes the tions and history, mythology and religion.
tion was instant, and Koutantos spent permanent collection of the Wooden “What matters most is whether an idea
the next couple of years creating various Sculptures Museum in Axos, the moun- speaks to me, whether it truly moves me,”
shapes and creatures out of clay, plas- tainside village where it all began. Inau- Koutantos says of his process. “You have
ter and stone. By the time he got to high gurated in 2010, the museum includes a to be inspired, to really feel what you’re
school, he had settled on working with woodcarving workshop and a 300 sq. m. chiselling out of the wood. As an artist
wood, collecting it locally and carving it exhibition space, where more than 100 of you can have plenty of ideas, but I think
with whatever tools he could find in his the artist’s hand-carved artworks are on the key is to only pursue those that truly
father’s toolbox. “Chiselling away at the display. Visitors to the museum are invit- resonate with you.” •

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