Craftsman Gareth Neal has revealed his Of Cuts furniture series made from unused wood off-cuts, demonstrating his mission to reduce waste wood within the timber industry.
From his East London design and craft studio, Gareth Neal works hands-on and combines the traditional craft techniques with digital techniques and is continuously thinking of new ways to work more sustainably. Of Cuts has been developed out of a need to create functional products from a singular timber plank.
“The idea behind this work goes to highlight the beauty of imperfection, and the need to think differently about what we consider waste,” Gareth tells enki. After acquiring four hefty timber lumps from the local sawmill, each of which had gnarly knots, irregular shaping, and characterful grain patterns, he was inspired to create this new collection. With those unique features, the wood would have been considered low-grade timber and unsuitable for typical furniture manufacture, despite having taken hundreds of years to grow and removing many tons of carbon from the atmosphere in their lifetime.
“I wanted to limit how much I processed each piece, retaining the lifelong story told through the material surface. With the assistance of a robotic milling machine the pieces have been transformed into a collection of sculptural furniture, giving them a function and allowing them to live on for many more years to come,” Gareth explains.
The off-cuts, naturally produced through the process of making, informed each next step in the design process. For example, if an off-cut was too short it was patched together with another smaller off-cut. The furniture series has come together to form a collection of beautifully crafted, puzzled-together versatile solid wood products that will make a statement in any home.
Take a look at the full collection online at Gareth Neal.
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