Srečko Molk : The Beauty Natural

When you stop for the moment and let the nature fill you with its power – then the magic happens. This magic is my mentor. I am inspired by the beauty that is trapped in wood, its lines and colors. For me, the disfigurements in wood are pearls, precious stones that give me inspiration and help me in creating works of art.

-Srečko Molk

Srečko Molk is a wood jewelry designer from Ptuj, Slovenia.

There is an ever present holistic feel in both Molk’s design aesthetic as well as his approach to creating his work.

Among the many reasons for Molk’s admiration for wood is its natural truth – that it intrinsically accepts error within and throughout; and because of this, its beauty is even enhanced with its ill-perceived ‘imperfections’.

Srečko explores wooded areas (half of Slovenia is covered by forest!) searching for bark from trees that are dying and seeks to – and does so successfully – carve new life into them. He also looks at and selects pieces with interesting knots and cracks in them that others may turn away.

As a designer he views that the knots in the bark and found imperfect conditions cannot be separated from beauty and tasks himself with the hard work of carving out the beauty, so others can see it. Srečko goes through many pieces that don’t make it, with their structure sometimes shattering into thousands of pieces due to porosity hours into the time consuming and dedicated process, but somehow manages to laugh it up and pick up the next piece, ready for where it will take him. Srečko carves out and around to refine unique handmade pieces of organic and continued beauty. This ability to expose the beauty in these not commonly accepted pieces is a testament to Molk’s talent and insightful eye for artistic possibilities.

As a child he knew he had an interest in working with and carving wood as he had observed and admired his uncle’s work with wooden chandeliers. He began working with simple objects and then on to basic furniture. When a friend asked him to make a wooden ring for her, he knew that he had found where he was going to explore his carving and design techniques : in the world of adornment. He continued on to Maribor School for Woodwork and has not looked back.

Unlike many designers who do wood work, Srečko uses a large variety of specimens ranging from the Octovec, which is a more delicate structured wood, with a color spectrum from a light to a deep green, cherry wood, walnut root, plum tree bark, beech wood and more.   Through this openness he in turn explores the different design possibilities through these varying properties of tropical and local resources, and carves through it all.

In keeping with his respect for the material in its most natural and authentic state. Srečko also uses his own special and specifically designed technique to enhance the rich and intense color of the wood that does not alter or pervert the basic structure of the wood itself – maintaining the natural strength of the wood.

What we love most about his work is that even in these small-scale mementos of their towering counterparts, there is a largeness and strong natural, uninterrupted presence to his pieces. Most of his pieces are indeed ‘traditionally’ oversized and give off the mysterious and quiet magnificence that their larger counterpart surely passed on through Molk’s highly skilled and knowing, hands and intuition.

All images courtesy of Srečko Molk.