For Breaking Ground: WEM’s 32nd Annual Juried Woodworking Exhibition, we sought to celebrate the 100th anniversary of a literal and symbolic groundbreaking: the completion of the first phase of Esherick’s iconic Studio. In honor of this moment, we invited applicants to take inspiration from what they consider groundbreaking, defined by any of the term’s multiple meanings. Together, the 26 artists remind us that groundbreaking moments rarely end with the ceremonial turning of soil. Instead, they mark the beginning of a longer process in which imagination, skill, and persistence come together to build something enduring. The prizewinning works are on view in our Visitor Center, and the complete show is available as a virtual exhibition and accompanying publication.
Over the course of the exhibition, which is on view through September 20, 2026, we are delighted to share a little more about our prizewinning artists with you. We asked each of them a few questions about their work, practice, and lives. Read on to learn more about Christian Burchard, the first place prizewinner in the Breaking Ground exhibition.
Can you tell us a little about the piece, Never Again II, that you submitted to Breaking Ground? How were you thinking about the exhibition theme while making this work or selecting which work to submit for the exhibition? What appealed to you about the exhibition theme?
It was an easy choice! My work has changed quite a bit in the last few years and I was feeling very much that I was breaking new ground with my own work. Something had shifted and I was approaching my work with a different attitude.
This exhibition explores the idea that “breaking ground” can sometimes be less about big achievements and more about simply beginning. Have there been moments in your practice where starting something new felt especially important or transformative?
Oh, there have been many moments. I experiment a lot and try new ideas. Some work out, some don’t, but it always keeps me engaged. Some ideas, as crazy as they may seem, just have to be tried out. They lead to something else. And some are dead ends, that is okay too. Even from failure I feel I grow.
84″ x 20″ x 20″ Wood, steel, 2025. Photo by Kristy Kún.
Breaking Ground asks what happens after the initial “groundbreaking” moment — after the first idea, risk, or shift takes place. What has growth or evolution looked like in your practice recently? Have there been particular tools, techniques, materials, mentors, or experiences that opened up new directions in your work?
I was looking for more meaning. I wanted to raise my voice and start saying something meaningful, addressing issues of our times. And working with books gives me that opportunity.
Wharton Esherick continually pushed his work in new directions across disciplines and materials. What is a moment in your own practice where you felt pulled beyond familiar territory? What did you learn from pursuing it?
I attended a few of the Emma Lake collaborative events in Saskatchewan and got really excited working with metal, copper especially, and learned from Greg Wilbur, my Portland metalsmith friend. Very unfamiliar territory, but I learned enough to incorporate it into my work.
84″ x 36″ x 12″ Wood, steel, 2025. Photo by Kristy Kún.
What helps you stay curious, experimental, or open to new ideas in your work?
Not being afraid to fail! As far as I can see one does not learn much from success. But failure makes you try again, look at what does work and what does not, and go from there. It is easy these days to get overwhelmed by too much information, too many images–there is just so much out there. At times it is not new ideas that are needed but digging deeper into what I already do. I made single books and small groupings for many years, selected the most attractive material (good movement, balance, etc), sandblasted and bleached them, added writing-like marks. Never Again II is departure from that. The individual books are not so important anymore, but rather what can be achieved by grouping them together. The surfaces of the books have not been refined, they have all warped and moved in different way. They have been cut from different parts of the tree and now work together as a whole.
What draws you to wood as a material for creative work? What does it offer as a medium that continues to surprise, challenge, or engage you?
Wood has been my choice of material for 45 years, we do work well together. I worked it as furniture maker, a timber framer, wood turner and sculptor. I worked it dry and green. These days definitely green and I prefer working with madrone, a wood that grows on the West Coast and is known to resist any controlled drying. It is unpredictable and I love that, it adds a whole new element into my work. There are always surprises, always challenges.
132″ x 50″ x 50″ Madrone, 2025. Photo by Kristy Kún.
What feels genuinely groundbreaking to you right now? This could be in your own practice, in the bigger contemporary art and design world, or in the broader cultural moment?
Tricky. There are so many changes, in our culture, our society. I find it challenging and honestly scary. I try to follow the art world some; there is just so much information and imagery out there, it’s hard to grasp.
Is there a particular part of Wharton Esherick’s work that you admire, or which has influenced how you think about your own work? If you’ve had the chance to visit the studio, what has been your favorite part about your experience?
I was in the house I think 30 years ago and it felt so familiar. The utter individuality of every thing that I saw, the odd angles, choices of material and small fascinating details everywhere. And everything handmade with care. Wonderful.
We are excited to continue to follow along with you and your wonderful work. What are you most excited about in your practice right now and/or on the horizon?
The larger of the two ‘Never Again’ sculptures was chosen by the Michelangelo Foundation to be exhibited in Venice at the Homo Faber Biennial in September. What an honor and acknowledgment. In my practice, I am just completing a 8ft tall tower made of books and I am investigating other shapes that incorporate books.
Explore more of Christian Burchard’s beautiful work on his website.
View other artworks in the Breaking Ground exhibition.
32″ x 32″ x 38″ Madrone, 2023. Photo by Kristy Kún.
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Christian Burchard is a German-trained woodworker and sculptor active in the U.S. for the last 40 years and is currently a studio artist working in Southern Oregon. Burchard started out his career with furniture and timber framing, then moved to wood turning and sculpture. He has taught extensively at various organizations across the country for the last 20 years. His work has been collected by over twenty-five museums and is in many private collections. His work is marked by a continuing search for the unexpected, the unpredictable, while using mostly green wood in a variety of ways. In 2021, Burchard was awarded the second-place prize in Wood And…, WEM’s 27th Annual Juried Woodworking Exhibition and received the first-place prize in Breaking Ground.
April 2026