Henrique Oliveira‘s work is nothing short of authentic genius. Creating giant sculptures and installations of colourful tree trunks bursting through buildings and walls is all in a day’s work for this young Brazilian artist. Henrique creates his sculptures using timber salvaged off the streets of his home town – São Paulo. His mind bending site-specific installations twist, curve, bend and split in a chaotic and abstract ways. Actually, is it just me, or do some of his sculptures look almost rude?

During his student days, he was inspired by a plywood fence outside his window which started to peel and fade into different layers of colours. He used the timber from this fence to create a piece for his graduation show. Nowadays he still uses salvaged materials, always choosing pieces that are already splitting and dying as they perfectly represent the decay of life in the city of São Paulo.

Amaze, no? I’m sure that these, like many other installations, really need to be experienced in person to be fully appreciated.

[All images © Henrique Oliveira via My Modern Metroplis, Yatzer and iGNANT.]

abstract art brazil colour Henrique Oliveira installations recycled são paulo sculpture timber