Rooted Heads

Carved Sculptural Heads for the Routed project

This collection of sculptural heads has been created as a collective totem to the stories of Barnsley’s people past, present and future. The heads were carved from felled trees collected from throughout the Barnsley borough. The wood used to carve the heads grew and matured over many years, and like the communities who shared the stories presented throughout the Routed project, their roots are entwined, their colours are vibrant and their textures are rich and diverse.

Carved with chainsaws, sanded with power tools, scorched with a blow torch and painted with oilsticks, these heads have been part of quite a journey for us as we developed a body of work that would accompany the stories and memories of the people of Barnsley as collected and presented during the Routed project. Wood and chainsaws are now firmly part of our toolkit and we look forward to developing this approach within future projects.