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I like to make sculpture, furniture and various objects. Occasionally I fabricate artwork for other artists and sometimes I collaborate with friends. I also design spaces and enjoy teaching, consulting and commissions.
I like to make Altered Limbs 2025-ongoing
An ongoing edition of functional wall pieces made from downed limbs sourced near my studio in East Tennessee. Limbs with prominent branching junctions are selected and worked while still green, using hand tools such as an axe, drawknive, spokeshave, sloyd knife, riving knife and scrapers. Aside from occasional chainsaw use for harvesting, all other production is human-powered.
Additional ‘branches’ are added using the same joinery processes used for making traditional staked furniture. The limbs are joyfully repositionable, mount with a slotted joint, and are locked by a wedge. Custom french cleats inspired by Shaker peg rails complete the system. Varying lengths of rails and curated selections of Limbs enable easily individualized installations.
There a long and rich history of pragmatic woodworking in this region of the country, kept alive by cultural institutions such as Foxfire, the Museum of Appalachia, and craft schools such as Arrowmont, Pecosin Arts, Penland and the John C. Cambell Folk School. I am inspired by the historical use of branched lumber for utilitarian purposes, such as for ‘crook hooks’ or structural posts. The forked area of a limb contains cross-linked grain that is extremely strong, yet rarely utilized.
Although Green woodworking is commonly viewed as quaint, old-fashioned, rustic or primitive, I am finding its methods to be sustainable, efficient, and materially connected. The growth and form of the tree influences and directs the shaping of the work. There is little sawdust or noise from machinery, making the process serene and enjoyable.
Modern woodworking predominantly relies on industrial fabrication: fossil-fuel-powered tools, precision machinery, accelerated production. Increasingly, I experience this mode of making as oppositional to the material itself: wood is baked, forced, ripped, standardized. The methodology of the machine ignores the individuality of the tree.
In addition to the Limbs, I have been exploring Green woodworking as a way to make tools for my studio, such as chopping blocks, mallets, handles and work furniture. Currently much of my studio practice is dedicated to learning pre-industrial skills.
Photographs by Charles Mathis.
Photographs by Charles Mathis.
