Per Brandstedt (b. 1952, Stockholm, Sweden)
Per Brandstedt is an innovative Swedish artist and craftsman engaged in a diverse practice of furniture design, wood crafts, sculpture and public art. Per has pursued his career in wood crafts and art for more than four decades producing a significant body of work in this medium. Ranging from design and production of furniture and other domestic artefacts to the creation of unique craft objects, sculpture and site-specific public art.
The processes of conceptualization, design and fabrication are inherent in Per´s work. He is invariably driven to test the limits of his material and conventional technique. His works are investigations into the experiential aspects of form and materiality. He creates objects to be interacted with, touched, sat on, objects to be reflected upon; objects which build poetic relationships to the people who interact with them.
Alongside his extensive artistic practice Per has initiated and taken part in numerous international and cross-cultural collaborations and skills-sharing projects that have taken him to many parts of Europe as well as Australia, Japan, Senegal, Mexico and the USA. Per has exhibited his work extensively all over Sweden, and in numerous international exhibitions in many European countries, Australia, Japan, Mexico,Senegal, South Korea and USA.
Christian Burchard (b. 1955, Hamburg, Germany)
Christian Burchard is a German born woodworker and sculptor, who grew up in a family that was very interested in art and architecture. But it was more his world travels in his early twenties and his refusal to follow the proper family traditions, that propelled him to look for a career first in furniture building and then to study art and sculpture first at the School of the Museum of Fine Art in Boston and then at the Emily Carr School of Art and Design in Vancouver, Canada.
In ’82 he established Cold Mountain Studio in Southern Oregon, first working In furniture making and timber framing. Lathe work followed and a return to sculptural objects. He has been teaching workshops across the US for many years. His pieces are part of many public and private collections in the US and abroad. His preferred material is Pacific Madrone, which he works while it is still green and unseasoned. His current work includes wall sculptures and freestanding sculptural objects. He is also a small-time goat farmer and cheese maker and in his spare time works on a variety of string instruments.
Seth Clark (b. 1986, Providence, RI, USA)
Seth Clark grew up in Seekonk, Massachusetts and studied close to home in Providence at the Rhode Island School of Design. He earned his BFA in Graphic Design, focusing primarily on print design and alternative typography. During this time, he discovered collage. This method of hands-on, spatial development took a major role in his digital work as well as his physical works on wood and paper. Clark was named Pittsburgh’s 2015 Emerging Artist of the Year and was recently awarded an Investing in Professional Artists Grant from the The Pittsburgh Foundation and The Heinz Endowments. His drawings, paintings and sculptures have shown nationally including exhibitions in the Carnegie Museum of Art and the Chautauqua Institution. He currently resides in Pittsburgh, PA and exhibits through galleries, museums and art fairs around the country.
An interplay between suffering and resilience is found in forgotten places. Clark captures the essence of these neglected structures, exploring our fascination with decay and encouraging viewers to ponder the transient nature of our existence.
Vivian Chu (b. 1989, Los Angeles, CA, USA)
Vivian Chiu was born in Los Angeles and emigrated to Hong Kong at the age of three. Her interest in the visual arts led her to attend the Rhode Island School of Design (BFA ’11 Furniture Design) and Columbia University (MFA ’19 Sculpture). Raised in a conservative Chinese family in Hong Kong and currently residing in the United States, she navigates the conflicts and commonalities between Eastern and Western cultures, with sculptures reflecting the fluidity of shape-shifting and embodying the ongoing process of adaptation. Utilizing labor-intensive woodworking methods, Vivian’s optical sculptures address psychological narratives while paying homage to her family’s history in factory work. She was awarded a 2020 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship in Craft/Sculpture and the 2023-24 VMFA Fellowship. Vivian currently lives and works in Richmond, VA.
Kyle Cottier (b. 1993, Louisville, KY, USA)
Kyle Cottier is a visual artist currently based in Knoxville, TN. They hold a BFA from the Art Academy of Cincinnati (2015) and attended the New York Studio Residency Program in Brooklyn (2014). A third-year graduate candidate in sculpture at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, Kyle was previously an Artist-In-Residence at Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts in the Smoky Mountains from 2021-2022. Kyle’s interdisciplinary practice combines traditional basketry and woodworking techniques blending sculpture, installation, and photography. Their work has been featured in the International Sculpture Center’s Magazine, and The Museum for Art in Wood’s exhibition, Vessel: Embodiment, Autonomy, and Ornament in Wood, in Philadelphia. Recently they participated in the group show, Modular, at Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati and is currently creating a body of work with their accepted proposal for Tri-Star’s Current Art Fund Project Grant. Kyle’s work explores the intersection of the natural, constructed, and digital worlds, synthesizing personal and social transformations through innovative installations.
Michael Ferris (b. 1969, Chicago, IL, USA)
Michael Ferris’s work has been exhibited widely throughout the nation at notable institutions including the Museum for Art in Wood in Philadelphia, the Elmhurst Art Museum in Illinois; The Bronx Museum in New York; The Queens Museum of Art in New York; ATM Gallery in New York; Katonah Art Museum in New York; de Young Museum in San Francisco, California; and The Illinois State Museums in Illinois. He has received awards from numerous organizations including the Virginia A. Groot Foundation (2024), the New York Foundation for the Arts (2009), The George Sugarman Foundation (2005), and the American Craft Council (2002). Ferris’s work can be found in public collections at the de Young Museum in San Francisco, CA; Illinois State Museum in Springfield, IL; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, AR and The Museum for Art in Wood, Philadelphia, PA. His exhibitions have been featured in The New York Times, The New York Daily News, and The Chicago Tribune.
Aspen Golann (b. 1987; Newton, MA, USA)
Aspen Golann is a furniture maker, artist, and educator whose work examines gender and power through the lens of American decorative arts. Trained in 17th-19th century furniture making, she blends traditional craftsmanship with contemporary perspectives, creating fine furniture and sculptures that explore identity and sexuality. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, Architectural Digest, NPR, PBS, Elle, Fine Woodworking, and more, and she has spoken at institutions such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art, RISD, and Sotheby’s NYC.
Aspen is the founder of The Chairmaker’s Toolbox, a nonprofit fostering access and equity in chairmaking. Since 2020, the initiative has awarded over 130 scholarships and donated $35,000 in tools to emerging makers. An advocate for inclusive craft education, Aspen teaches internationally and serves on the boards of A Workshop of Our Own, The Furniture Society, and The Society of Arts + Crafts.
Her contributions to craft have earned her The USA Fellowship, The Maxwell Hanrahan Award in Craft, The Mineck Fellowship, and residencies at Winterthur Museum and SDSU. Aspen currently teaches furniture design at RISD, writes for Fine Woodworking, and is developing a book on broom and brush making. She lives and works in Southern New Hampshire.
Katie Hudnall (b. 1979, Alexandria, VA, USA)
Katie Hudnall is a woodworker, artist, and educator living in Madison, WI, where she runs the Woodworking and Furniture program at University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has a BFA in Sculpture from the Corcoran College of Art, and an MFA in Woodworking and Furniture Design from Virginia Commonwealth University. Hudnall is curious about the aliveness of things and about how to make furniture as strange and dynamic as drawings. She is happiest in a wood shop thinking with her hands.
Rex Kalehoff (b. 1979, New York, NY, USA)
Wood Sculptor and Furniture Maker, Rex Kalehoff, was born and raised on a gorgeous 1950’s wooden sailboat in New York City, and went on to complete his Bachelor Degree in Sculpture from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and a Master Degree in Wood Furniture Design from the School for American Crafts at Rochester Institute of Technology. Kalehoff’s professional career in the arts includes extensive teaching and managing various studios, as well as numerous international exhibitions and artist residencies. Rex’s curiosity and creative endeavors led him to study first-hand the endemic plants and wilderness areas of Tasmania, live for several years amongst ancient customs and temple ruins in Southeast Asia, and more recently, become completely immersed in the marble carving world of Pietra Santa, Italy. Rex moved to Luxembourg in 2022 and opened Rexinlux Wood Studios, where he currently lives and works.
Steven KP (b. 1995, Milwaukee, WI USA)
Steven KP’s work is rooted in the intersections of generational loss, queer understandings of time, and histories of displacement. It serves as a reflection of my own family’s history and a meditation on the ways in which queer elders have been lost through systemic oppression and the AIDS pandemic. The work also speaks to the environmental losses we face, particularly the destruction of old-growth forests and the removal of habitats that have sustained both human and non-human life for generations. Caring for these losses—personal, communal, and environmental—is woven into the very fabric of their practice.
Steven KP is an artist, jeweler, and educator who grew up in rural Wisconsin. They spent much of their childhood with their grandfather–a refugee and third-generation cabinet maker. The grandfather was their earliest teacher in the art of working with hands, and in his workshop, they learned that craftsmanship is not just a skill, but an act of preservation and communion.
There is no singular moment of completion—only development as the works live with the wearer and move from the most public of spaces to the most intimate and then back again. Through this ongoing and reciprocal process of care and relationship, KP’s objects cultivate new pathways of heirloom, of belonging, and of connection that bind us to where we come from and allow us to go where we are needed most.
Klara Knutsson (b. 1997, Örtomta/Linköping, Sweden)
Klara Knutsson is an artist working with marquetry in Stockholm, Sweden. In her work, she combines different types of wood to create a variety of tones, textures, and patterns, using the various shades and structures of the wood to bring depth and life to her works. The cross section of nature and urban life is a frequently recurring theme in Knutsson’s work. She is drawn towards motifs where elements of nature mesh with the urban landscape and find it intriguing to explore the tension in those encounters. Through her art, she aims to celebrate the tradition of marquetry while exploring new pathways for the technique in the modern art world. Knutsson is interested in the relationship between technique and vision in her work, and is driven by her love for both the practical craftsmanship and the artistic process. She wants to contribute to the ongoing dialogue about the relevance of traditional craft techniques in contemporary art. By combining this traditional technique with modern influences and her personal aesthetic, she strives to create works that feel both timeless and contemporary.
Ron Layport (b. 1942, Elyria, Ohio, USA)
Ron Layport is a woodturner/sculptor living and working in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His work celebrates a connection with Earth and its creatures. Natural imagery, an interest in ancient cultures and his materials themselves, are all sources of inspiration.
He explains: “I feel an affinity with the nameless makers who came before me. I get a sense that making things with our hands is a core instinct, like eating. It’s part of the human condition. To come across marks made by human hands more than a thousand years ago, is to begin to understand a connection that straddles both time and culture. The instinct to make objects that address our place on this planet, is as timely today as it is timeless. My efforts are directed toward bringing my own voice to this ongoing dialog.”
After a 40-year career in marketing, where Ron served as an Art Director, designer, photographer, Creative Director and film Director, Ron has transitioned to a full 25-year career of making things with his hands. Today, his sculpted vessel forms are included in numerous private and public collections, including the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, Racine Art Museum in Wisconsin, and the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington DC.
Adam John Manley (b. 1983, Randolph, Vermont, USA)
Adam John Manley is associate professor of Furniture Design and Woodworking at SDSU, and currently works out of his studio at Bread and Salt, in the Logan Heights area of San Diego. Adam received his bachelors in political science and international relations from the State University of New York at New Paltz, and his MFA from SDSU in 2011. Adam has taught full time at the Maine College of Art, UMass Dartmouth, and adjunct at The University of New Hampshire, as well as at the Haystack Mountain School of Craft, Penland School of Craft, and other workshop-based programs. Adam has done residencies in Madison WI, Lanesboro MN, Stonington ME, and the Museum for Art in Wood. Adam’s work has been shown nationally and internationally, with works in the permanent collections of The Museum for Art in Wood and The Museum of Fine Arts Boston.
Jack Mauch (b. 1985, Sandwich, NH, USA)
Jack Mauch is a multi-disciplinary artist and designer who specializes in the use of wood veneer. He creates intricate veneer designs for use on furniture, sculpture and decorative objects. In 2018, Jack developed a digital manufacturing process for forming marquetry over complex, three-dimensional curvature. This led him to become interested in how digital tools can benefit the creative practices of artists and craftspeople. He explores the intersection of traditional and digital craft in his own work and by providing digital processes education and consulting to artists and creative institutions. He is a founding member of Treats Studios, a vibrant artist collective in Western North Carolina, where he is based.
James Maurelle (b. 1972, Los Angeles, CA, USA)
James Maurelle is an interdisciplinary artist, sculpture, video, photography, and sound art are his analog and digital primes. His work investigates the correlation formed between labor and creativity, at the center of this byway is the spirit of his work. Constructing objects and moving images are not unlike creating music compositions, the accompaniment, i.e., tools and materials, are a call and response to dexterity. The rubric to complete any composition is to know ones’ instrument(s)/tools; the creative process is based on this reciprocal understanding. Jazz is the primer which propels the work, the tone/feel of every composition is in direct association with the culture. Every object he composes is a physical versioning of a historic recording or happening, every tool used is an augmented scale referencing an industrial progression. The materials (wood, metal, plastic, film) are the staff paper, and every committed strike upon these materials forms a note or chord. The fluidity connecting mind, hand, and tools are based on the augmented triad which is the cornerstone of my work ethic. The main objective is to continue creating full-bodied compositions, as long as the staff paper flows, he will inscribe upon it.
He’s a newly appointed assistant professor at Clark University; he works and resides in Worcester Massachusetts. His work has shown in New York, Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Austin, Philadelphia, Brussels, Cincinnati, Worcester, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. He is a Pew Fellow (2022) and a recipient of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture Fellowship (2015).
Edgar Orlaineta (b. 1972, Mexico City, Mexico)
Edgar Orlaineta lives and works in Mexico City. In his practice, Orlaineta focuses on hybrid sculptural forms that draw inspiration from modernism, popular culture, and specific historic moments. Orlaineta primarily explores post-war design and architecture that generally depicted biomorphic shapes owing to strong surrealist influence. In his original works, Orlaineta challenges the symbolic and economic value of industrial design objects, which originated as mass-produced products but later evolved into coveted collector’s items. He does so by incorporating craft elements or merging them into assemblages with everyday objects that lack historical significance. In his interventions and assemblages, Orlaineta seeks to open these design objects to new perspectives through denial of their functionality, historical or cult value in order to reactivate the legacy of the historical avant-garde.
Ellie Richards (b. 1985, Greenbelt, MD, USA)
Ellie Richards is a furniture designer and sculptor interested in the role the furniture and domestic objects play in creating opportunities for a deeper connection between people and their sense of place. Ellie looks to the tradition of both woodworking and the readymade to create eclectic assemblage, installation, and objects exploring intersections of labor, leisure, community, and culture. She has traveled extensively to investigate the role play and improvisation have on the artistic process. Her work, both furniture and sculpture, has been included in exhibitions at the Mint Museum; Center for Craft, Creativity, and Design; SOFA Chicago; and the Society of Contemporary Craft. She has been awarded Windgate residencies at the Center for Art in Wood, and in the wood/furniture design programs at San Diego State University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison and most recently finished the three-year residency at Penland School of Craft. Currently she is living and working in Los Angeles, CA.
Sylvie Rosenthal (b. 1979, New Haven, CT, USA)
Sylvie Rosenthal is a sculptor and woodworker. Her mindfully crafted work engages chiseled forms, marbled surfaces, and exactly-notched connections that construct a surrealist menagerie. Through hybrid forms, she merges and transforms technologies, animals, and histories, interrupting a singular narrative in favor of a constellation of possibility.
Sylvie holds a BFA in Woodworking and Furniture Design from the School for American Crafts at RIT and an MFA in Sculpture from the UW-Madison. Sylvie teaches woodworking and design in university, college and craft school programs, as well as exhibits nationally and internationally. Sylvie operates Lower Astronomy Studios: a design, sculpture, and woodworking studio in Madison, WI.
Travis Townsend (b. 1973, Butler, PA, USA)
Travis Townsend draws, builds, carves, rebuilds, paints, and tinkers upon wood and mixed media sculptures in his Lexington studio. His process-oriented works evolve from sketches and travel through many transformations before being cut apart, reassembled, and reworked (sometimes many years later). Parts are often transplanted or recycled.
Travis studied at Kutztown University (BS) and Virginia Commonwealth University (MFA) and has participated in residencies at Penland School of Craft, Oregon College of Art and Craft, Vermont Studio Center, Peters Valley, Arrowmont, and the EMMA Collaboration. His sculptures and drawings have recently been exhibited at the Susquehanna Art Museum, Manifest Gallery, Athens Institute for Contemporary Art, Wharton Esherick Museum, Quappi Projects, and Washington State University. New American Paintings, The Manifest International Drawing Annual, and The Penland Book of Woodworking have also included his work. His awards include an Emerging Artist Grant from the American Craft Council, a fellowship from the Kentucky Arts Council, three sculpture grants from the Virginia A. Groot Foundation, and recent travel grants from the Great Meadows Foundation.
