▁major ▁collections ▁across ▁the ▁United ▁States ▁and ▁intern ation ally . ▁ ▁Te chni que ▁and ▁subject ▁matter ▁Though ▁he ▁was ▁trained ▁as ▁a ▁stone ▁car ver , ▁Sh aman ' s ▁most ▁significant ▁work ▁was ▁in ▁wood ▁and ▁involved ▁the ▁detailed ▁process ▁called ▁l am ination . ▁Sh aman ▁is ▁featured ▁in ▁the ▁text book , ▁The ▁S cul pt ure ▁Reference : ▁Te chni ques , ▁Term s , ▁Tools , ▁Material s , ▁and ▁S cul pt ure ▁by ▁Arthur ▁Williams , ▁where ▁detailed ▁photograph s ▁illustrate ▁his ▁technique ▁and ▁tools . ▁He ▁further ▁ref ined ▁the ▁l am ination ▁process ▁by ▁developing ▁a ▁" h ollow - core ▁technique " ▁that ▁resulted ▁in ▁strong , ▁yet ▁l ighter ▁pieces . ▁Sh aman ▁often ▁filled ▁the ▁empty ▁cav ities ▁of ▁his ▁sculpt ures ▁with ▁objects ▁known ▁only ▁to ▁the ▁artist , ▁a ▁hum orous ▁touch ▁that ▁often ▁intr igu ed ▁and ▁fr ustr ated ▁his ▁pat rons . ▁His ▁typical ▁sculpt ure ▁dep ict s ▁every day ▁enc oun ters ▁defined ▁by ▁w ry ▁humor , ▁ir ony , ▁and ▁so ber ▁reflection . ▁ ▁Sh aman ' s ▁work ▁was ▁also ▁often ▁character ized ▁as ▁wh ims ical , ▁a ▁quality ▁that ▁can ▁be ▁seen ▁in ▁the ▁work ▁he ▁created ▁for ▁pu pp ete er ▁Peter ▁Z ap let al ▁( see ▁External ▁Link s ▁below ). ▁His ▁life - size ▁human ▁figures ▁frequently ▁port ray ▁the ▁working - class ▁people ▁he ▁evidently ▁adm ires , ▁though ▁he ▁also