With help from his custom lathe, North Carolina woodturner Anatoly Tsiris shapes whole tree trunks into large-scale sculptures and vessels.
Artist: Tsiris was born into a family of schoolteachers in the small Ukrainian town of Kmelnitsky. He planned to carry on the family tradition by graduating from college with a teaching degree in math and science.
But realizing he had little interest in teaching Tsiris instead took a factory job in Lugansk, Ukraine, where he worked on a variety of metal-cutting machines.
In June 1989, Tsiris immigrated to the United States and worked as a carpenter and cabinetmaker in PA, NJ, and NY.
Workshop: Tsiris moved to Charlotte, NC, in 1996, and began making furniture in his basement shop. The woodworker soon moved to another house on two acres. He was able to build a separate building/studio, where he works today.
“I just finished moving to a new house that I built right next to my studio,” said Tsiris. “So now I am even closer to my work.”
In the beginning: Woodworking was always his passion.
When Tsiris was a small child of three or four, if his parents wanted a break they would give him a bunch of nails and a hammer.
“I would hammer the nails in the old bench by the back door for hours,” said Tsiris. “It was my favorite game.”
Art & materials: Large wood sculptures and vessels with primarily organic shapes. ($3,000 to $12,000). For his work, Tsiris uses only previously cut trees from the region’s constant street construction and development. He also believes local wood looks better than fancy exotic species.
“Any humble sweet gum or tulip tree gives me a most beautiful material to work with,” said Tsiris.
Must-have tools/equipment:
- The most important one: a custom-made one-ton capacity woodturning lathe that Tsiris rebuilt to better suit his purposes. All his pieces are made on it.
- Various cutting tools, including chisels of his own design that he makes himself thanks to his metalworking background.
“To lift a piece of wood weighting over a ton on the lathe is a task that requires some special equipment – outside of the studio and inside,” said Tsiris.
Special & unusual project: Several years ago, Aldersgate, a senior living community in Charlotte, was adding a new wing to its main building and had to cut down a huge deodar cedar tree that was brought as a seedling from Jerusalem 60 years ago.
To commemorate this special tree, Tsiris made a series of wood objects for the community’s conference room and foyer, including large sculptural vessels and a coffee table turned on a lathe.
Awards & honors: His works are shown in galleries of North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia and have been purchased by corporate and private collectors.
His pieces are also in collections of NC museums, including the Mint Museum in Charlotte and the Gregg Museum of Art & Design in Raleigh.
Where to buy:
- Alan Avery Fine Art, Atlanta, GA. Tsris has been with the gallery for nearly 30 years.
- Flow Gallery, Marshall, NC.
- Contact the artist: https://anatolytsiris.com
Connect:
- Facebook: Anatoly Tsiris
- Instagram: @anatolytsiris
