Michael Warren has accepted a commission to create sculptures in wood for the winners of the 2016 Wood Awards Ireland.  Acknowledged as Ireland’s foremost sculptor, he is making the sculptures for the overall award and winners of  architectural, engineering, design, furniture, restoration and other category projects. Warren was the obvious choice for creating the awards, which are organised by the Wood Marketing Federation and supported by the RIAI. Wood has been the main medium in most of his major works in Ireland and overseas. During the past five years, Warren has had a number of  major national and international exhibitions featuring wood as the main material.  Recent solo exhibitions include Unbroken Line in the Centre for Contemporary Art, Carlow  (2010); Gravity in the Crawford Art Gallery, Cork (2011);  One Foot in the Real World in the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (2013); Those who go / Those who stay in the Limerick City Gallery of Art (2014);  Predella, Galerie Weiller, Paris, as well as three exhibitions in the Hillsboro Fine Art Gallery, Dublin. He was chosen not only because of his stature as a major international artist but also because the sculptures he produced for the inaugural wood awards in 2014 were highly valued by the winners including Ireland's top architects, engineers, designers and wood workers. The wood awards were initiated to promote wood usage and design in Ireland. There are eight categories covering large-scale construction, residential buildings, restoration projects, structural works, furniture, innovation, sculpture, start up enterprises and international works. Invitations have been issued to Irish architects, engineers, designers and others working in wood to make submissions to the Wood Marketing Federation. Application forms and further information are available at www.wood.ie or contact 086 2607883.