Wind in His Sails

Henry Gauthier’s passions have tacked and swelled through the years, carrying him from Bullocks Cove, Riverside, through a business degree and a career in architectural woodwork, and most recently washing ashore at the Providence Art Club.

There, the Wickford, R.I., resident won a prestigious national sculpture prize this spring.

Retirement was supposed to be about flipping houses. But two years ago he set out to carve his wife a gift, and set a new course. Now a scrap of figured mahogany, a spray of white coral or an old ice skate whisper to him of a different, more nautical life. His sculptures move, should they ever need to take the wind; found objects become base and boat, while Gauthier’s chisel finds the sail hidden in beech or yellow pine. “URI,” he reflects, “tuned me up to make creative connections.”

Studio 460 Gallery, 460 Tower Hill Road, Wickford, R.I., 401.640.9435, studio460gallery.com.

—Pippa Jack