M87* — Wooden Relief Mosaic

On April 10, 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration released the first image of a black hole — a shadow at the heart of galaxy M87, 55 million light years from Earth. It took an Earth-sized array of synchronized radio telescopes, years of data processing, and the coordinated effort of hundreds of scientists across the globe to produce a single blurry orange ring. It remains one of the most remarkable images ever made.

M87* renders that image in wood.

Watch the build video on YouTube

Thousands of individually placed hardwood blocks — multiple species, multiple natural tones — are arranged across a relief surface with varying heights, so the piece shifts as light moves across it. The dark shadow at the center recedes physically into the piece. The bright asymmetric ring of the accretion disc — brighter at the bottom due to relativistic beaming, faithful to the original image — radiates outward in warm oranges, reds, and natural grain tones against the deep cool browns of the surrounding field.

Up close it dissolves into grain, texture, and geometry. From a few meters it resolves into one of the universe's most extreme objects, rendered by hand, block by block.

Details
Medium: hardwood blocks, multiple species, natural and stained tones, set on panel
Relief: varying block heights articulating depth and shadow
Palette: warm orange-red accretion disc, deep dark shadow center, cool outer field
Care: compressed air to clear dust from relief; keep away from prolonged direct sunlight
Dimensions: approx. 115 × 65 cm

Delivery

Shipped crated by pallet freight. Flat-rate shipping at checkout: Netherlands €150, Belgium & Germany €250, rest of the EU €400. Outside the EU, or if you'd like a precise quote first, get in touch via the contact page. Hanging hardware fitted.

The Galilean Four

The Galilean Four is a set of four backlit wooden reliefs inspired by Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto — Jupiter’s largest moons.

Each piece is built from hexagon-patterned plywood, cut, sanded, painted, and assembled by hand. The works are not literal maps, but material interpretations: translating planetary character into color, texture, and light.

The Four Moons

Io
Volcanic and restless.
Its surface is marked with burned craters, created using a pyrograph tool to etch heat directly into the wood — a physical process for a moon defined by extreme geology.

Europa
Cold, layered, and deceptive.
Multiple paint layers create a deep, icy surface, while fine red fractures — painted in by hand— echo Europa’s distinctive lineae and hint at the complexity beneath the ice.

Ganymede
Massive and quiet.
The largest moon in the Solar System needed no added surface effects. Its grayscale hexagonal pattern stands on its own, relying on scale, rhythm, and contrast to carry the piece.

Callisto
Ancient and scarred.
White-painted craters accumulate across the surface, overlaid with flicked silver and gold paint — subtle highlights that catch the light like distant impacts frozen in time.

Light & Materials

Each relief is backlit with integrated LED lighting, carefully tuned to a complementary white color temperature:

• warmer tones for Io

• cooler, purer whites for Europa and Ganymede

• softer, dimmer light for Callisto

The light functions less as illumination and more as presence — forming a subtle halo around each moon, separating it from the wall and giving the pieces a quiet sense of suspension, as if they were hovering rather than mounted.

Details

Sold as a set of four. Integrated LED backlighting, EU plug. Original, one of one.

Delivery

Shipped crated by pallet freight. Flat-rate shipping at checkout: Netherlands €150, Belgium & Germany €250, rest of the EU €400. Outside the EU, or if you'd like a precise quote first, get in touch via the contact page. Hanging hardware fitted.

Watch the build video on YouTube

HexCortex — Wooden Relief Mosaic (91 × 71 cm)

A human cortex, translated into wood.
HexCortex renders the brain as a field of hexagonal tiles that rise and fall in gentle steps. As light moves across the surface, gyri (crowns) and sulci (valleys) appear and recede—an anatomy lesson made tactile.

Each tile is cut from 9 mm plywood, dyed, and placed by hand. The hex grid isn’t just a pattern; it echoes the brain’s own columnar organization, giving the image a structural rhythm. From a few meters it reads as a clear profile; up close it becomes facets, grain, and tiny height shifts.

Details

• Dimensions: 91 × 71 cm

• Medium: 9 mm plywood, hexagonal tiles; dyed and hand-set on panel

• Relief: stepped hex “columns” that articulate gyri & sulci

• Palette: warm rosé and umber tones against a neutral ground

Care

• Display away from prolonged direct sunlight to preserve dye vibrancy.

• Cleaning: use compressed air to lift dust from the relief; avoid liquids and high humidity.

Notes

Wood is a natural material; small variations in grain and tone are part of the work’s character. The appearance will shift with viewing angle—side light brings the topography to life.

Delivery

Shipped crated by pallet freight. Flat-rate shipping at checkout: Netherlands €150, Belgium & Germany €250, rest of the EU €400. Outside the EU, or if you'd like a precise quote first, get in touch via the contact page. Hanging hardware fitted.

Watch the build video on YouTube

Light, Air, and Time — Hand-built Wooden Mosaic (120 × 60 cm)

A living canopy rendered in almost 13,000 hand-cut, dyed wood pixels.
Each block has a defined height and tone so the trunk, branches, canopy, and sky emerge in relief as light moves across the surface.

Overview

• Original artwork (one of one)

• Dimensions: 120 × 60 cm (approx.)

• Pixel count: almost 13,000 individual blocks

• Relief: 10 distinct height levels (trunk → branches → canopy → sky)

• Build time: well over 100 hours of hands-on work

• Presentation: slim wooden frame

This piece sits at TimberPixel’s crossroads of craft and science: a clear portrait of a tree built from a rule-based system. Up close you see the facets, grain, and tiny height steps; from across the room the structure resolves into a breathing crown.

Materials & Process

• Medium: softwood blocks (cut, dyed, glued by hand) on a rigid panel

• Method: custom software generates the design and cut plan; each pixel is placed to maintain branching hierarchy and depth

Installation & Care

• Display away from prolonged direct sunlight to preserve dye vibrancy.

• Cleaning: use compressed air to remove dust from the relief. Avoid liquid cleaners and high humidity.

Notes on Uniqueness

Wood is a natural material; grain and subtle tone shifts are part of the work’s character. Colour will shift with the light—raking light accentuates the relief and brings the canopy to life.

Delivery

Shipped crated by pallet freight. Flat-rate shipping at checkout: Netherlands €150, Belgium & Germany €250, rest of the EU €400. Outside the EU, or if you'd like a precise quote first, get in touch via the contact page. Hanging hardware fitted.

Watch the build video on YouTube