By Marimar McNaughton ArtistStudio
84
WBM july 2012
Michael Van Hout &
WOW
FAC Van Hout is a Dutch name.
It means of wood.
Is it any wonder, then,
to find sculpture artist
Michael Van Hout in the side yard of
Acme Art Studios cutting and assem-bling
wood pieces? Tree limbs actually?
As he feverishly works on a private
commission, beads of sweat form on the
brow beneath his signature gray shag.
He wipes his face on the shoulder of his
T-shirt and points toward a trio of pieces
that will become a horse, a bear and a
dragon.
“It’s almost like puzzle making,” Van
Hout says. “I have pieces that are going
to naturally be legs. I have them graded
into different sizes. I have to start with
the basics. Like any sculpture, I have
armature, so I start with the legs and
then I start attaching from there.”
Yes, it is a wonder to see Van Hout
working with wood. Most of his fol-lowers
know him for his wire metal
sculpture, from petite figurative
characters to colossal animal forms,
Van Hout’s work is collected by other
Michael Van Hout’s larger-than-life-sized
Galapagos tortoise is a pemanent fixture
in the Flynn’s courtyard.