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FEATHER SERIES

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The Feather series began around 1980. Giles was given some pieces of fossilized walrus ivory, and found that they worked well with the woods he used.   He developed the first  feather pieces as "boxes" that would show the colorful ivory as a focal point.  This photo shows the first piece in the series, done in 1980.


The lids on these boxes were  horizontal, and worked well as a design ,  but Giles was not satisfied, because he realized that the concept became even more powerful when it was  elevated to a more vertical plane. This is why the lid of the box (which had the feathers) became a hinged door, and is in a more vertical plane.   This change also allowed for the placement of strikers and feather like assemblies to be mounted around the body of the pieces.   Many of these pieces are wall cabinets, and  pedestal sculptures.
 

Giles Gilson Bonnet  (wall cabinet)   Feathered wall cabinet sculpture 1981 Curly maple, walnut, holly, ebony, stainless steel 16" x 8" x 6"

The sculptural aspect is evident in all the details of each piece. Each part is a small sculpture that relates to, and becomes part of the whole unit.
The early examples of this series had no paint. Only the natural wood was used. A few years into the series, however, Giles began to use the pearlescent colors  (see  Lacquer series page.)  along with the beautiful woods , metals, and plastics.   At this time he also began replacing the ivory focal parts with special hand made medallions.  This photo shows the first in the series to have the pearl colors with wood..

Giles Gilson Feathered Container with pearl lacquer, Hinged door 1982.3 14"x9"x6"

In 1987 Giles decided to make two rows of the feathers out of hand carved aluminum, for this piece:
87.3 - Feathered container sculpture, the lacquered woods are basswood, silver feathers and main door plate are of hand-carved aluminum. The black steps and base are acrylic, the fasteners and shafting are stainless steel, the side feather holder are East Indean rosewood. The medallions are made from manzanita burl. Constructed of 150 parts.

Giles Gilson Feathered Container Sculpture   1987.3 Walnut, (wood feathers made from lacewood, ebony and holly) 21"H x 13"W x 16"L

This selection from the Feather series is the most recent;  completed in late 2000
Early autumn - Sculpted Featherpiece, (cabinet, pedestal piece with 3 shelves, 2 drawers, black flocked interior, Padauk, lacquered basswood-tangerine/gold pearl over white base, Lacewood, walnut, cherry, figured maple, ebony, holly, purpleheart.  brass, stainless steel.

Giles Gilson Early autumn   Sculpted Featherpiece (cabinet, pedestal piece) 2000 Mixed Media 28"H X 22"W X 12"D