“The Lynden Sculpture Garden offers a unique experience of art in nature through its collection of more than 50 monumental sculptures sited across 40 acres of park, lake and woodland.”
I focused on sculpture during my time at SAIC, and can attest that the quote above does not do the Lynden Sculpture Garden justice. They recently curated Urban Wood Encounter to "introduce the public to the environmental value of urban wood within the context of an exhibition of fine furniture.” Sustainability plays an integral role in my work and day-to-day life, so this exhibit is especially important to me as it focuses on wood waste generated in urban areas, which, if processed, could produce almost 4 billion board feet of lumber each year.
I was invited to contribute work made from urban lumber, and was honored to collaborate with Mike Jarvi. We were challenged to “create inspiring, thoughtful, and beautiful furniture from this regionally abundant and underutilized natural resource.”
Mike has been making beautifully crafted wooden furniture for years, and is especially known for his Jarvi Bench. Here’s a great video showing how he makes it out of a single piece of wood. All of his works are amazing and inspiring, to say the least, as is Mike himself.
After months of brainstorming, prototyping, building and rebuilding, we finally honed in on a chair design that drew inspiration from my Coleman Stool and Mike’s Jarvi Bench.
Throughout the process I couldn’t stop thinking about the magnitude of wood that goes to waste each year. I also thought about how the recent recession made our own country’s labor force an underutilized resource, and how excited I am to be working with Midwestern companies on sourcing everything necessary for my furniture to make the most of the great people resources here in the USA.
