Leon Niehues’s process begins in the woods around his home in the Boston Mountains of Arkansas. After harvesting and debarking a White Oak, he carefully uses the Ozark split knife method to separate the wood along the tree’s growth rings, making fine, pliable strips. Using these traditional techniques, Niehues creates lyrical, gestural works that blur the lines between basket and sculpture.

Some of his works, such as Prince Andrei, take on a human quality while others, like Bentwood Sphere, explore line and volume.