Discarded planks, doors, floorboards and furniture become colorful geometric faces in Stefaan De Croock’s street murals in Belgium. De Croock (also known as Strook), preserves the color and texture of the scavenged wooden pieces, cutting them into geometric shapes and piecing them together to form colossal faces.
"The whole process of making such a recycled artwork is really interesting; the search for wood, cutting and making the pieces, placing and building it,” Strook said. “I really like working with the old patina of discarded wood. It’s like a footprint of time; every piece has it own story and comes together in a new composition and forms a new story.”
View photos and learn more about two of his recent projects – Elsewhere and Wood & paint – after the break.
From Strook: ‘Elsewhere’ is placed on the side of an old furniture factory in Mechelen, Belgium. It’s made by piecing together discarded wooden planks, doors, floors and furniture. I didn’t paint any of the wood it stayed exactly as I found it.
The mural was made for the Mechelen Muurt Project. I got a lot of help from my father, I couldn’t have done it without him.
'Wood & paint' is a kind of conversation between different materials; a contrast and a similarity at the same time. That’s what it’s all about; we are all so different and yet so identical...The two parts of this piece are almost the same, but the making is completely different.
It took a lot longer to construct the wooden part because I had to search for the right wood and textures. The wood comes from one big abandoned factory. Like in ‘Elsewhere’ I didn’t add any paint.
Check out Strook's Facebook page and Website to learn more.
