Focus on Wood @ Society of Arts and Crafts: Bizarre, Beautiful, and Dangerous

I was in Boston on Wednesday and got a chance to see the Focus on Wood show at the Society of Arts and Crafts. The show is a really great chance to get a survey of some of the most interesting and inventive artists currently working with wood. I think the stars of the show are Leah Woods' two furniture/sculptures "For Rose Bertin"

©Leah Woods

(for info on Rose Bertin, check here)

and "Undraped"

©Leah Woods

Both are such original designs, and as I've said before, so identifiably feminine. What surprised me the most about "For Rose Bertin" is how large it looks in person. The "skirt/dress" really takes over a room, much more than you would imagine looking at a picture.

Equally unique, and much more bizarre, is this installation piece by Christine Lee.

©Christine Lee

The piece is titled "Shims:Thousands of Uses - Use #21". I'm sure she is correct, there must be thousands of uses for shims and it seems she is making it her life's mission to find them all. Clearly, there is an element of tongue in cheek irony to her work, using one of smallest elements of a construction project to create the subject of construction - walls, buildings, windows. Check out her website and get some design ideas for your next kitchen renovation. A lot of her work focuses on making furniture from recycled, unexpected objects. The shims in this installation will be donated to a home construction charity; Habitat for Humanity?, I don't remember.

Equally bizarre are Matthias Pliessnig's "ad lib" sculptures.

©Matthias Pliessnig

©Matthias Pliessnig

©Matthias Pliessnig

In isolation these small sculptures could be easily dismissed as the strange, unsophisticated ramblings of a madman; but put in context with his breath-taking series of sculpture and furniture, these small pieces can be understood as creating balance in the universe - in artistic form - for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. My theory is that with these sculptures, Matthies is mentally balancing his exquisite, refined, easily appreciated work with things that are more difficult and less "beautiful." It takes a lot of mental energy to create his "beautiful" work; with these "ad lib" pieces, there must be a mental release of tension, a time to relax and use a different part of his brain.

Perhaps the most dangerous piece in the show is this longboard by California furniture maker and architect by Miki Iwasaki. Made with bamboo and various hardwood highlights, but, please note, it is lacking breaks and a seat belt. There should be a warning posted on the underside (perhaps there is) saying (as if one were needed) that one shouldn't race down the side of a mountain a top one of these. You'd think this was self-evident, but apparently not. As much as I've thought about it, I can only think of one way that you can stop this thing once you get going down hill. Great work, but it gives me the willys just looking at it.

©Miki Iwasaki

Jason Schneider's sculptures are the only ones in the show that are both beautiful and bizarre. He calls these "Plungers" although they look an awful lot like his "Wobbly Tops." Maybe he got tired of seeing people try to spin them; with as much time as they take to make, I'm sure it isn't fun having to touch up the paint all the time.

©Jason Schneider

I was also enthralled with Michael de Forest's constructed/deconstructed/sutured/painted vessels. They are very folk arty with none of the simplicity or ease of construction. The two pieces are "Cat Skull Bowl: messenger, stopper of time" and "Storyteller: New Beginning, Teacher, Hoarder".

©Michael De Forest

©Michael De Forest

There is much more to the show than I can describe here; more work that is bizarre, beautiful, and challenging (but, thankfully, no other dangerous work). You can see a portion of these on SOAC's current exhibit page.