Incredible Sculptures You Won’t Believe Are Made of Reclaimed Wood Scraps

Dutch visual artist <a href="http://ronvanderende.nl/?page_id=2">Ron van der Ende's</a> realistic sculptures are already amazing to look at, but our appreciation for his work went to new heights when we found out that his industrial-inspired artwork was made from <a href="http://inhabitat.com/reclaimed-wood-for-selfridges-by-haberdasherylondon/">reclaimed wood</a>. Van der Ende scours Rotterdam looking for scrap wood, which he cuts down to size and then assembles into these large hanging sculptures. The color you see is not painted on, but part of the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/reclaimed-wood">reclaimed wood</a>, resulting in a mosaic of colored wood tiles transformed into photorealistic sculptures of decrepit factories, buildings, beat up old cars, tree stumps and even huge chunks of steak.

Van der Ende isn't just one of those guys who collects the odd scrap here and there - he hoards wood like squirrels stock up on acorns for the winter.

His sculptures rely on thousands of pieces of scrap wood and to get all the right colors, he hunts for scraps in the dumpsters of Rotterdam.

If he can't find the color he needs for one of his sculptures, he heads to a warehouse near Rotterdam that stores more than 7,000 old doors to find what he needs.

After finding the scrap wood doors, cabinets, and planks, van der Ende takes the object apart, removing any nails, screws and hinges and then he uses a saw-bench to cut the wood into veneers around 3mm thick.

The bulk of the sculpture is constructed out of the plain wood veneers and then the colored veneers are added as the final layer to the bas-relief shape.

He uses glue and nails to adhere the veneers and relies on perspective to exaggerate the form of the sculpture. In total, the amazing sculptures can take 6-8 weeks each to complete! He's quite the busy little squirrel.

Ron van der Ende Shotgun Shack Row 2010 </br> bas-relief in salvaged wood 236 x 84 x 14 cm (private collection Connecticut)

Ron van der Ende On Re-Entry (Burning Log) 2010 </br> bas-relief in salvaged wood 262 x 87 x 12 cm

Ron van der Ende: Breaker 2009 </br> bas-relief in salvaged wood, 165 x 152 x 18cm (private collection Rotterdam, NL)

Ron van der Ende: Boompjes 2009 </br> bas-relief in used wood, 105 x 90 x 12 cm (built on assignment. private collection Rotterdam)

Ron van der Ende: Engine House 5750 / Loods 5750 2009 </br> bas-relief in reclaimed timbers, 185x122x16cm

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