Dennis Lin was preparing a show for the Spoke Club and he asked me to make three museum quality cabinets as part of his ambitious vision. The glass cases were to house three beautiful artifacts he had collected and manipulated to accentuate the preciousness and delicacy of the natural world.
He sketched out his idea for the shape on my workbench top.
Presenting objects behind glass that most people would discard or ignore but are extremely complex and beautiful resounded with my sensibility and spoke volumes about our relationship with our environment. I was more than happy to play a minor role in realizing this statement.
One of three.
Mapping out the shapes was an absolute joy.
The arc of the skirt flows into curves of the legs. The hand carved legs capture the strength and fragility of an animal physiology.
Three sets of legs upside down on the bench.
The curve of the thigh.
The strength of the hip with a mortise and tenon joint.
I minimized the dimension of the glass frame so as not to distract from the object being displayed. Assembling the glass and frame was the most challenging part of the process.
Compound mitre corner.
Dennis’ show was a great success showcasing his ability to create dramatic shapes and textures with both delicate wisps wood and slabs of curved steel. Some time after the event, I was in Klaus by Nienkamper furniture store and one of the cabinets with it’s object of fascination, a fan of ant eaten wood, was quietly standing in corner. Each time I visited the store the cabinet occupied a new spot. Here it stands on the mezzanine.
