Bandera wall sculpture

Wall sculpture in hand-carved Lapis Lazuli, wood and hand-forged brass, by the master stone carver and gem specialist Julio Martínez Barnetche, Mexico 2021. This specimen of Lapis Lazuli is a large piece and a particularly valuable type of Lapis.

“My work as a sculptor is grounded in direct carving of stone and wood and the forging of free form stainless steel. Whether as single or mixed media compositions, my art reflects a deep understanding of the materials and their technical and artistic possibilities. Conceptually my work is a discourse between tension and harmony that often tricks the eye with soft materials rendered to appear hard, and hard materials often to look soft and sinuous. There are many metaphors in this expressive dialogue. I have endeavoured to dissolve the boundaries of form and function.

Most of the wood I use comes from trees, long dead on the lands of friends and neighbours in the small community where I live. I have rescued these trees from further decay and revealed their beauty once again in a different way. They have a “new conversation” with other materials.
The stones come from mines near my home; basalt comes from the north and marble from the south. Many of the people near my village make their humble living from the extraction of these rocks. My lifelong relationship within the small communities nestled in the mountainous landscape has become an integral and intimate part of my life and an inspiration for my creativity. I often spend a great amount of time marrying stone, steel and wood, to give each its power, magnify the power and even change the perception of its partnering material.