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.

Leah Woods at Gallery NAGA

I was in Boston yesterday and was surprised to see Leah Woods work at Gallery NAGA. She designs and builds beautiful, elegant, and feminine sculptural furniture using a lot of elaborate wood bending. She won a Niche Award last year for her wood furniture and I've seen pieces in several magazines. She will also be showing at the Society of Arts and Crafts in Boston next month. I find these two pieces at Gallery NAGA interesting in how it takes items (shoes) that are usually hidden in a closet and takes them out for display as part of a sculpture. I don't think too many men would have thought to do this. It is also a great idea in that shoes that don't get used very often can still be enjoyed as art.
This top one is obviously the woman's shoe version, the one below is the man's version.

Although I can see women's shoes working as art and being on display, I'm not thinking that it works so well for men's shoes. Men just have boring shoes. I think men's shoes start becoming art when they get so over used and worn out that going barefoot is an improvement -- like this (below) Janet Van Fleet sculpture with my old shoes (although I don't think Leah's sculpture would be an appropriate display for it). When I finally stopped wearing them, barefoot was definitely more comfortable. But then, I'm not really the best person to ask about men's or women's fashion. There probably are very nice men's shoes out there that are worthy of display, I would have no idea.

Below is an image of Leah's piece that is featured for the Society of Arts and Craft show. In addition to being very well designed and constructed, I find her work interesting in how feminine it is. I just don't think you could ask a man to design something that would do the same function as that and get something that is so "girlie." Right down to the fine point feet, it just gives you the sense that it was designed by a woman for a woman.