“Chair” from Liminal Bodies
2023
9.5”W x 22”D x 37.5”H
Ash, stain, finish
Hand carved
For me, craft is practice rendered material in dialogue with time. We shape and are shaped by that which we make.
I’ve always considered furniture to be tools for living; objects which choreograph our behaviors and mediate our experience. A table as a meeting place, centering a home, trail benches framing the view of a vista.
This work examines what new or multiple roles craft objects can occupy in a time of epochal shift. How the craftspersons role as a shaper of new modes of sensual corporeal interaction with natural materials can provide space for new perspectives, connection and collaboration.
Each piece began with observing the grain movement, coloration and motif of each individual timber. From this observation a sequence is decided. Each is composed of a different stack laminated wood species; white ash, cypress, reclaimed redwood. Each, crafted with a succession of deductive tools; from chainsaw to Japanese kana.
All composed by hand, step by step, with an ever finer tool each time. An active process with equal parts making and observation. Carving, running hands over the material, stepping back to look. Then, approaching once more and deducting, shaping, moving towards the final form.
︎︎︎spec sheet
Photographs by Connor Rancan