matt moulthrop shapes a bowl in studio

Learning the Curve: The Artistry of Matt Moulthrop

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Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Please welcome guest author Lisa Chastain. Chastain is the Curator of Collections at the Museum Center at 5ive Points in Cleveland, TN. Their current exhibition, “Learning the Curve: The Artistry of Matt Moulthrop,” is open through November 2014 and features the diverse and intricate art of that Southern regional artist.

Drought. Famine. Disease. Sun. Rain. All of these factors contribute in the creation of a life story. The interpretation of these factors is the real challenge for any person, including historians, anthropologists and even artists.

One artist in particular has chosen a medium which is generally not considered when the idea of expressing a life story comes to mind. Third generation wood-turner Matt Moulthrop has taken up the mantle of telling stories in his own particular way: through trees.

Museum Center showing quote "My job is to tell the story..."

The life of a tree is influenced by the world around it; growth rings tell the story. Within the first few years of life, a tree may experience severe drought or an overabundance of rain. Each of these events is recorded within the tree. Drought and disease, flooding and lack of sunlight, major weather events – all leave evidence behind in the form of ring spacing and coloration. Hidden in plain sight is the accurately recorded history of mankind all around us in the trees.

An example of this can be seen in this new exhibition with the display of both an American chestnut cup and a large redbay globe. Each of these tree species has an interesting and diverse history. The American chestnut tree is virtually extinct in our region due to a blight which causes a bark fungus. The introduction of an Asian chestnut tree brought this fungus to the United States. This species no longer exists widely in nature, and yet on display is an example of the story of a chestnut tree.

The redbay globe is a second example of a species on the verge of extinction. Growing along the borders of swampy lands in the South, redbay trees are being scoured by the introduction of a beetle which carries a different type of fungus. The size of the globe on display is potentially the largest that will ever be seen.

Matt Moulthrop has stepped in to interpret these stories through his art. The idea of giving trees a voice is an interesting and a new approach. With his selection of various trees found mainly in the Southeastern United States, Moulthrop tells the unique account of our region. His works of art are turned bowls in classical forms, such as globes or vessels, leaving the simplicity and elegance of the piece to do the talking. Each turned object is a singular story of a location in our region.

AshLeaf Maple turned bowl

Matt works with the wood, first by selecting the best pieces. Secondly, turning this piece on his lathe, he begins to unveil every growth ring, wormhole, and imperfection in the wood, unraveling a tale of life, growth and death. The final step captures this story within a glass-like finish.

Learning this particular art form began with his grandfather, Ed Moulthrop. The elder Moulthrop was always proficient in art, becoming a painter specializing in watercolors. However, a turn of events led Ed to achieve a successful career as an architect. Only after discovering that woodturning could in fact enable him to care for his family, Ed worked in his shop full-time, leaving behind his first career. He developed his own tools, crafting them from scrap metal and turned large-scale projects, the likes of which the woodturning world had never seen.

chestnut bowl perforated by hexagonal holes

Ed’s son, Philip, learned the love of the art after he also had a successful career, as a lawyer. Philip turned full-time as well, never staying with one form or style long, preferring to let each tree decide its own unique form. After much trial and error, Philip eventually created his Mosaic series—a body of work that is created with various wood pieces and a dark resin, turned in the classical styles befitting a Moulthrop piece.

Matt, too, learned the art of woodturning after having a previous career. He learned with the help of his father and grandfather, who was slowing down in his later years. Matt helped his grandfather in the studio by roughing out new forms, all the while gaining valuable knowledge concerning the contributions of trees. Matt added a dozen new tree species to the Moulthrop family’s body of work, and also developed a system which distributes and enhances the glass finish on each Moulthrop piece, successfully capturing the story of life.

The stories that the Moulthrop family have revealed continue to grow as they receive commission pieces for beloved trees, such as a tree that fell in Chattanooga dating back to the 1930s, or through the immense pile of wood available in their back yard. Each tree that Ed worked—and both Matt and Philip continue to work—shows another snapshot of history, and tells another story that reveals an unknown tale through the medium of wood.

The exhibition will be on display until Saturday, November 15, and is sponsored by Bank of Cleveland. The Museum Center is open Tuesday through Friday 10 a.m. till 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. till 3 p.m. Additional information can be found here.

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