The Centre for Fine Woodworking
New Zealand's premier furniture making, woodworking & design school
Nelson Mail review of December 2007 exhibition
Exhibition of the work of students at the Centre for Fine Woodworking, Refinery Gallery,
until December 29. Reviewed by Peter Gibbs.
There's something satisfying about seeing an organic, live material such as wood being shaped into an object of function and beauty. Ten students, taught by five tutors for up to nine months, have produced 35 pieces of furniture for this exhibition.
Students at the centre cover topics in blocks, so four weeks might be spent in learning dovetail joints, another four in the art of steam bending and laminating, and so on.
There's evidence of the time spent on these specialist areas throughout the exhibition.
The dominating work is Nigel Whitton's 2.7m dining table. Despite its generous proportions, the table has a lightness, without appearing flimsy. The tapered and curved ash and beech legs seem to lift the slightly curved tabletop effortlessly from a well-grounded foundation. The same design element, of broad-based legs tapering upward, is used again by Whitton in a combined table, storage box and Go game board, and also by Katalin Sallai in one of my favourite pieces, a bench entitled New Seductive Object.
Reflecting the block course in chairmaking, there are some well-designed examples: The jarrah and ash dining chair by James Perry was made for a man of decent proportions, as is his armchair in matai. Both manage to achieve a balance and elegance .
More whimsical is the Wing chair by Whitton, which makes conscious use of the properties of the saligna timber. Used in the back of the chair, the timber has a feathery grain - the connection being extended into wing shapes.
A lacquered ash chair by Tracey Perry is upholstered in pink, a statement of femininity in what is mostly a blokes' world. Thorkild Hansen, better known as a jeweller, is no mean practitioner with woodworking tools too. His coffee table and small cabinet reveal great precision and attention to detail.
The techniques of steam-bending are seen to great effect in similar stools made by both Tracey Perry and Lukas Hamilton to a design by tutor David Haig.
It's not possible to mention every piece in the show, but there are no weak links. Every item has been lavished with love, attention and expertise, and together they form a brilliant testament to the Centre for Fine Woodworking.
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