Wooden sculpture of a young woman

Wonderfully tactile carved wooden female torso
by Dominique Rayou (born 1957)
Signed “Rayou”
French hardwood

height: 28 in / 71 cm
width:  15¾ in / 40 cm

Dominique Rayou is a sculptor who specializes in sensuous carvings of abstract torsos and botanical shapes. Self- taught, his work is predominately in marble or bronze, yet his finest sculptures are best seen in his use of adapting the grain and shapes found naturally in hardwoods such as elm or olive trees. His first of several exhibits in his home town of Toulouse was in 1981, before having shows in Paris, Italy, and the Pay Bas, Saint Paul de Vence in Provence, as well as far afield as Miami and the UAE His work can be seen in public collections of the Midi Pyrenees area of France, the Marie de Sarlat, the French Embassy in Austria, and Museum of Modern Art in Tunis.