ABOUT THE CARVINGS
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A carver from Cheshire, England, Chris draws his influence from the early working decoys of North America, where there is a rich heritage of bird carving, particularly in the decoy style.
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Decoys are carvings with a specific purpose, not art for arts sake, and there history is firmly planted in the past as working lures for the American wildfowlers of the 19th and early 20th century.
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So efficient were these hunters that by the early years of the 20th century some birds were close to extinction, and others, the Labrador Duck and the Passenger Pigeon, had already gone for ever. This devastation of bird numbers prompted congress to pass the Migratory Birds act in 1918, this brought to an end the mass destruction of bird species, which had gone on unrestricted for over one hundred years.
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With no more use for them , many decoys were chopped up for firewood or just left to rot on the shoreside. It wasn't long, however, before the artistic merit of these “floating sculptures” was realized, and keen collectors combed the old hunting grounds in search of the work of the best decoy makers.
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This new market for carvings saw the birth of the decorative decoy, a carving not to be hunted over, but to be enjoyed as a piece of artwork in the home. Still carved and painted in the folk art style, these carvings explore the sculptural potential of the birds that had once been hunted.
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It is from this transitional period in decoy history that Chris finds his inspiration, carving both traditional working decoys and contemporary decorative decoys, he tries to stay true to the folk art principles set down by the founding fathers of, what is really, a very modern art.
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TO SEE THE CARVINGS OF CHRIS HINDLEY
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CLICK ON THE GALLERY OF YOUR CHOICE
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