My name is Gabriel Tarmassi and I am a wood artist based in Bamberg, Germany.

I create sculptures and objects from wood, mostly wallpieces.
My process focuses on the direct contact with the material, so that every piece I make is a handmade original artwork.

I feel drawn to wood from early childhood memories on. As a kid, nothing excited me more than playing around in the forest with sticks and branches, seeing what I could create with the forms that nature provided. The sensory experiences of touching a raw piece of timber, exploring the grain or getting haptic feedback from the material during the work process are still a central part of my identity and the reason I decided to commit myself to working with wood professionally. The abstract language of my pieces is influenced by the organic nature of the material and the experience of wandering around in vast and wild landscapes.

With my work I want to offer the vision of a holistic relationship between mankind and our natural surroundings. This connectedness and belonging is my personal perspective on the age-old question “What is man in the cosmos?”.

Back when we were still hunters and gatherers roaming around in bleak deserts, conquering mountains or exploring the wide open sea, these environments not only had a huge influence on our bodies, but just as much on our consciousness. We see a distinct shape or pattern and it instantly reminds us of something “out there”. Conversely, we as humanity have a large impact on the condition of the planet we live on. Today more than ever.

This mutual relationship is crucial to my work process. I often have a certain idea of a piece, but I aim to respect the natural beauty of the wood and integrate it into the final work. Through this co-design approach I perceive myself simultaneously as creature and creator. I feel as a part of the boundless realm of nature, while at the same time expressing my own “inner landscapes” in a medium that represents the natural world.