Though George Woollard is well known for his painting, the versatile artist says he's had an interest in sculpture since he was a child.

“;It's a philosophical thing that's been working on me for a long time,”; he says.

Woollard displays the results of his reflections in an array of his latest 3-D work for the exhibit “;Critical Curves,”; showing at the Academy Art Center. The exhibit also features the mixed-media monoprints of Anne Irons and mixed-media monotypes by Linda Spadaro.

Woollard says there are a number of challenges in creating sculpture.

“;It's more time-consuming. It's problematic to find homes for things. It's more risky,”; he rattles off. “;It involves chain saws and power tools. It's a big production.”;

Yet circumstances are ripe for Woollard to return to his first love.

“;I now live way in the back of Palolo where there's no neighbors and lots of trees on the property. I can make as much noise as I want, and the raw materials are right there in my yard. So it's natural for me.

“;Everything I create grows out of a connection to my environment,”; he continues. “;It's essentially jungle, a rain forest, where I live. My art is another aspect of my relationship with my environment.”;

Woollard's land is home to 40 enormous lychee trees, providing him with free, easy-access sculptural material. He enjoys working with lychee wood, saying it has lots of character.

“;This wood is like stone,”; he says. “;There was some buried in the ground for 10 years, and when I dug it up it hadn't even rotted. I said, 'OK, guys, you wanna still hang around, then I'll make something from you!'”;

Woollard says his pieces in “;Critical Curves,”; as in all his sculptural work, are a natural progression from his work in abstract painting. He says that while most folks think of abstracts as just “;following your nose,”; he believes the genre is rooted in the environment.

“;Nature is made up of form, so you need to study nature to understand abstracts,”; he says. “;With sculpture I've gone from abstracts to pure form. It's a natural projection of this line of thinking.

“;Sculpture is 4-D—the work has a time element. It changes and responds. There's a suggestion of motion, a sense of movement and change.”;