Peter Berenguer is a sculptor and his medium is the rare and beautiful timber gathered from his property in the Snowy River High Country. Timbers such as the rugged and enduring White Box and Yellow Box, the sensuous Snowy River Pine, Red Stringy Bark, Black Wattle and the magnificent Coastal Red Gum, are Peter’s passion.
Peter sources timber felled years ago when the country was being "opened up" by the first white settlers. These pieces, often laying for hundreds of years on the ground of his remote high-country property and more recently, areas here on the Coast, speak to him with inspiration, enabling him to transform their natural form into sculptured works of art. Peter sees the potential deep within their weathered surface.

Peter’s Spanish-Italian background has inspired his admiration and passion for the works of Michelangelo, Modigliani, Rodin and Picasso and he comes from a family who are patrons of the arts. His father and grandfather both painted and sketched in Barcelona. Peter greatly values his heritage and believes this is another source from which he draws his inspiration.
Peter is largely self-taught with his apprenticeship being the thirty years working amongst these ancient felled trees and marvelling at their shapes and the possibilities for reworking. He is especially fond of the rare White Box - a unique and difficult timber to sculpt, which reveals amazing beauty beneath its coarse, weathered surface. He loves the stone-like finish possible with this tightly grained timber, through the application of patience and physical endurance.
Peter often uses the burls (knots) that grow on the trunk and roots of the tree and carefully transforms these strange growths, through his artistic and inspired imagination, into beautiful works of art.
Peter searches this remote country for wood tempered by snow, frost and scorching sun, seeking to bring out the essence and beauty hidden within it. His art and sculpture is a strong statement and an eloquent alternative to the traditional uses of these rare and endangered timbers. By showing the beauty that lies beneath these infinite shapes and enhancing the wonderful grain and feel of the timber, he enables people to appreciate their value in a stunning new form.
Peter Berenguer has won six major prizes for sculpture and carving to date, in the Australian Wood Design Exhibition and his works have reached the international market and been shipped to clients all around the world.