With a unique twist, this wood-maker primarily uses plaster lath, small strips of wood that come from the old walls of hundred-year-old buildings in Brooklyn. The patterned pieces are now readily available due to the constant gutting of these old brownstones. Collecting her prized pieces, she cleans them thoroughly and uses the wood’s natural coloration and patina to blend together and make the complicated patterns in her work. Ariele Alasko doesn’t use any stains and in such, the work is completely natural… something quite rare in today’s world.
With her sidekick along for the day, Ariele Alasko stands in front of one of her pieces. On the workdesk is another piece in the process of completion.
Image courtesy of: Ariele Alasko
A sampling of a coffee table top waiting to be sanded and sealed. The colors are naturally found on the lath- white on one side and brown (or black on the other side).
Image courtesy of: Ariele Alasko
Alasko in front of a wooden wall she designed and built for a restaurant. Glueing, sanding and carving, she is a master wood-maker and she can honestly say that her pieces are indeed “one of a kind”!