year: 2022

width: 24”
depth: 15”
height:61.5”

dyed poplar wood, maple wood veneer, plywood, 
steel

The piece was initiated by my personal rejection of bent-laminated furniture. I view the visible sides of the laminated veneers as a sacrifice for the free-forming quality. I want to alter it and incorporate the visible lamination profile as part of the design language and motif for the piece. The “frame” element of the shelf has a sheet of black veneer sandwiched in between that tends to create a graphic element that corresponds to the layers of veneers. The four posts and legs each have two sides that were bent on the solid dyed wood in the middle. This was my response to how wasteful the bent-lamination process is, so I want to utilize the mold for bending as part of the pieces.

The shelf was designed having the idea of a “collection of objects” in mind—people’s relationship with objects. Recently I have been thinking about how objects that surround us shape us. Will I still be me if I exist and live in an empty room? Is it normal to have more attachment to objects than to people? Some would say those cherished objects are accompaniment. Some would say that waking up every morning and looking at the objects surrounding them reminds them of who they are. While some might also argue that these attachments are a capitalistic trap that tricks people into being owned by the things they buy.