Souphom Manikhong

Born in Laos, a small country surrounded by mountains with a rich variety of trees. He came to the United States in 1979 and began to study what he loves best, ‘wood working’.

In 1984, he completed a 4-year course in cabinet making and worked as a cabinet maker in a small factory. After he became an American citizen in 1986, he started his own studio/workshop making boxes, furniture, gift items and children’s toys. He returned to Laos in 1990, to visit, and was inspired by shapes and forms in nature – trees, flowers, water, wind and fire. Utilizing the exotic woods there, Souphom creates one-of-a-kind sculptures, finished with extreme care. He is currently working with his brother Souphong on their monumental sculptures.

All of their pieces are made from rosewood, ebony, afzelia, burl, etc. of Laos. They carry the shapes, form and sense of nature. The process begins with the selection and careful drying of these rare and exotic woods (most of the Flower Vases came from the root of an old natural fallen tree that was left for over 100 years). He hollows out the inside by chain saw and grinder and some pieces have been roughly turned on a lathe to remove excess wood from the inside to get the bottom shape, and then had carved by chisel to get close to the design. Next they are rough-sanded by using a 24 grit sanding disk, and a lot of hand-sanding to get the final shape. Finally, the piece is finish sanded with 400-600 grit sand paper. Finishing depends on the wood; some pieces are simply oiled and waxed, and others have been sealed with lacquer or polyurethane.