Design Resource
Wood Carving - Kerala
The Wooden Craft
by
Prof. Bibhudutta Baraland Antony William
Statue Making
The woodcarvers of Kerala are skilfulin making and carving statues of various shapes and sizes. The difference in the process of making a statue and furniture is that for making a statue, they only use hand tools. However, for making furniture, machines are used. This is a traditional art inherited from their earlier generations. They use the template only for outlining and the remainder is done from memory. The process of making the statue is as follows:
Step 1 - Outlining:
• The outline is drawn on the log of wood using a template.
• The edges of the wood are chiselled as per the design on the template.
Step 2 - Carving:
• After tracing, the wood is carved at the edges with the help of wooden hammer and a flat chisel.
• For carving, firstly, the head of the statue is carved.
• Then, the other parts are individually carved.
• The individual parts of the statue are joined by using wooden pieces, nails and gum.
Step 3 - Detailing:
Detailing is done with the help of small Ulli (chisel) and a hammer, as the wood used for carving is very soft.
