Los Angeles–based artist Vincent Pocsik’s affinity for wood is innate. “It’s in my genes,” he said. “My dad was obsessed with wood, so I grew up surrounded by it.” He first pursued a career in architecture, earning his MA from the Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles, before returning to woodworking. Lacking formal training, he developed his own intuitive approach. Today, he combines his father’s traditional craftsmanship—hand-carving, sanding, and dying—with the digital technology he used as an architect, including three-dimensional modeling software and computer-controlled machines that cut and shape wood according to digital designs. 

For Pocsik, whose works were on view last year as part of LOY Gallery’s show “A Trail to Chase,” there’s no distinction between art and design. “No matter what I’m working on, I’m trying to challenge the viewer’s perception and push the bounds of what a sculpture or a piece of furniture can be,” he said. Accordingly, his figurative sculptures feature long legs and contorted torsos with wooden lamp shades replacing their heads, as seen in Sitting with One Shoe in Walnut (2024). Meanwhile, his upholstered benches are supported by meticulously carved forearms and hands, as in Damned to Love You (2021). His hyperrealistic wall works, featured in a recent solo show at Nazarian / Curcio, also depict anatomical body parts that intertwine with botanical forms, such as TwoGerberas with Hands (2024), which features ebonized walnut daisies with swirling stems that sprout human hands.