Wooden “Pixel” Sculptures Combine to Form Mysterious Masks

Gil Bruvel, a talented artist hailing from Texas, has a unique approach to sculpting. His ongoing project, The Mask Series, involves creating intricate, large-scale sculptures of human faces using an unconventional material—colored wooden blocks of various sizes.

From a distance, these portraits display an uncanny level of realism, but as you get closer, the individual blocks become more apparent, resulting in a pixelated effect. Bruvel’s extraordinary attention to detail is achieved by artfully blending different-sized wooden pieces. Larger blocks shape the outer edges of the masks, while smaller, more delicate pieces are meticulously arranged to form the eyes, nose, and lips.

These sculptures offer a multisensory experience as they interact with light. When illuminated, they reveal the contours of the faces and cast shadows beneath the nose and jaw, adding depth and dimension to the artwork. While many of the masks possess enigmatic expressions that invite interpretation, some clearly convey emotions ranging from smiles to frowns. Remarkably, all the masks share a common trait—closed eyes, suggesting a serene and contemplative state.

Explore more of Gil Bruvel’s astounding sculptures by scrolling down, and for the latest updates on his projects, be sure to follow the artist on Instagram.

Artist Gil Bruvel crafts abstract sculptures using colored wooden pieces

He assembles wooden planks in a stacked formation to construct pixelated portraits

The diverse textures of these pixelated faces become evident when observing the artwork from a side view

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