{"id":58005,"date":"2026-02-25T08:36:48","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T08:36:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/aitor-martinez-lopez-de-arbina-convierte-en-arte-la-memoria-viva-de-la-madera\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T08:58:53","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T08:58:53","slug":"aitor-martinez-lopez-de-arbina-turns-the-living-memory-of-wood-into-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/aitor-martinez-lopez-de-arbina-turns-the-living-memory-of-wood-into-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Aitor Mart\u00ednez L\u00f3pez de Arbina turns the living memory of wood into art"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tornero y escultor, su obra se sit\u00faa en ese territorio h\u00edbrido donde la artesan\u00eda se abre a la escultura contempor\u00e1nea y el gesto manual adquiere una dimensi\u00f3n conceptual. Nacido en Legazpi (Guip\u00fazcoa) y vinculado vitalmente tanto al Pa\u00eds Vasco como a Galicia, Aito<\/a>r construye desde el territorio una pr\u00e1ctica profundamente arraigada en el paisaje y sus relatos. Su trabajo parte de la convicci\u00f3n sencilla de que la materia contiene historias, y que el artista puede revelarlas sin forzarlas. As\u00ed, cada pieza surge como un peque\u00f1o universo aut\u00f3nomo, una presencia que condensa memoria, identidad y transformaci\u00f3n. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

The lathe as a poetic tool<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At the core of his practice lies the lathe, understood as an expressive instrument beyond repetition. Aitor works with green wood, freshly cut, embracing the drying process as an active part of the work. The final form integrates the deformations, cracks, and tensions that appear over time.<\/p>\n\n\n

This way of understanding the craft brings his work closer to sculpture than to the utilitarian object. In collections such as\u00a0Mundos<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0C\u00f3digos del alma<\/em>, the piece ceases to be a container or closed volume and becomes instead a tactile narrative, where time is inscribed on the surface.<\/p>\n\n

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Photo by Elena L\u00f3pez Lamadrid.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Photo by Elena L\u00f3pez Lamadrid.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\u201cAlways oak, and accompanied only as when it chooses to be.\u201d \u2014 Aitor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cOak with its mouth sewn shut. Not so it won\u2019t speak. So it won\u2019t be broken when it says what it has to say\u2026 if it has something to say, and says it.\u201d \u2014 Aitor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\u201cOak, as always, with character, noble and loyal, a little rogue and capricious and, on this occasion, ebonised with vinegar and metal oxides.\u201d \u2014 Aitor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cEbonised oak with a crack that told me it still had a long game ahead.\u201d \u2014 Aitor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\u201cRight there. Where the tree splits into two branches. That bark fissure forced me to be delicate and cautious, while also firm and even a little rough, because in one of the pieces the crack is larger than half the total diameter.\u201d \u2014 Aitor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cThis is oak, from beginning to end.\u201d \u2014 Aitor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\u201cThe way it looked at me was everything. The rest was up to me\u2026\u201d \u2014 Aitor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cThis oak piece is part of a group of three that are sisters and made from the same trunk, although the behaviour of each one has been completely different\u2026 yet they understand each other well.\u201d \u2014 Aitor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cThis is the second of the three sisters\u2026 Its grain, pattern, colour, and texture are special because, while they unite them, they also make them completely different\u2026\u201d \u2014 Aitor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\u201cOak \u2014 I often think about all that a tree like this must have lived through\u2026 its roots, the earth, the years\u2026 its eye looks at you. Look closely at the photo.\u201d \u2014 Aitor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Sustainability as an ethics of process<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sustainability appears in his work as a structural condition of his projects. Most of the wood comes from nearby environments: controlled pruning, local forests, or certified sawmills. The cycle closes within the workshop itself, where remnants are reused as energy or compost, establishing an almost domestic circular economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This relationship with the origin of matter reinforces the territorial character of his work. Each piece retains the trace of its provenance: oak, chestnut, cherry, or ash speak not only of botany, but of cultural landscape. The object thus becomes a fragment of transformed geography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From learning to recognition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

His approach to woodturning came relatively late, but intense. After beginning his training with a still functional outlook, his time in 2022 at the prestigious Escoulen school in France \u2014 becoming the first Spaniard to undertake this training with leading masters such as Yann Marot and Alain Mailland \u2014 transformed his approach to the craft, introducing a more experimental and sculptural dimension.<\/p>\n\n\n

In just a few years, his trajectory has been recognised by various institutions within the fields of craftsmanship and culture. The turning point came with the 2025 National Craft Award in the Product category, granted for his collection\u00a0Mundos<\/em>, noted for its technical sensitivity, conceptual strength, and commitment to sustainable practice.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

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Colecci\u00f3n C\u00f3digos del alma.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Colecci\u00f3n C\u00f3digos del alma.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Colecci\u00f3n Mundos.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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Colecci\u00f3n Mundos.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The piece as presence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Beyond awards, what defines Aitor Mart\u00ednez\u2019s work is a way of being in the world through making. In his workshop, time is measured differently: in drying cycles, in seasons, in the patience of repeated gestures. Each work presents itself as an autonomous, biographical entity that holds the traces of its own becoming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy workshop and studio is at the same time my home, the place where I am able to materialise my emotions. It is a space full of light in which I feel freer than anywhere else,\u201d explains Aitor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is in his work a will toward slowness that feels deeply contemporary. In contrast to the speed of industrial production, his pieces reclaim waiting, imperfection, and direct contact with matter. He does not seek spectacular objects, but objects that remain as silent presences inviting contemplation.<\/p>\n\n\n

In this balance between tradition and experimentation, between craft and thought, Aitor Mart\u00ednez L\u00f3pez de Arbina stands as one of the most sensitive voices in contemporary Spanish craftsmanship. His work reminds us that, at times, innovation does not lie in inventing new materials, but in learning to listen to those that already exist.<\/p>\n\n\n

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foto Elena L\u00f3pez Lamadrid.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Aitor Mart\u00ednez L\u00f3pez de Arbina
<\/strong>Alejandro Outeiri\u00f1o Rodr\u00edguez 11
32003 Ourense
+34 696 919 478
info@aitorpunto.com
https:\/\/aitorpunto.com\/
@aitor_punto<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Aitor\u2019s work, matter is a living interlocutor. Each piece is born from a dialogue with wood \u2014 with its time and its tensions, with the memory the tree holds before becoming form. Photo by Elena L\u00f3pez Lamadrid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":58003,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","editor_plus_copied_stylings":"{}","footnotes":"","_ppma_block_editor_authors":""},"categories":[742,632],"tags":[2274,2275],"ppma_author":[296],"class_list":["post-58005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","category-crafts-en","tag-aitor-martinez-lopez-de-arbina","tag-wooden-sculpture"],"authors":[{"term_id":296,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"andres-moratinos","display_name":"Andr\u00e9s Moratinos","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_category":"","first_name":"","last_name":"","user_url":"","job_title":"","description":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58005"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58005\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58020,"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58005\/revisions\/58020"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58005"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=58005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}