News

Actions

Artist carves champions from tree trunks

Posted at 9:27 AM, Sep 25, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-25 09:27:04-04

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - It takes a special kind of person to look at a large tree and think you can make a statue out of it. But, that's what one ArtPrize artist has done.

James O'Neal gets a vision when he stands next to a large tree. He sees things most people could never imagine.  For his entry this year, he created life-size statues of champions out of trees, like Muhammed Ali and Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

The statues took hundreds of hours. All are hand-carved and hand-sanded.

The display is inside the JW Marriott downtown.  Arnold Schwarzenegger and Cris Cyborg have already been in touch with O'Neal to purchase their statues when ArtPrize is over.