Michael Irving Ph.D Studio

FURNITURE AS ART OBJECT

Galleries

Functional Objects: Contemporary
Pine
Spanish Suite
Boxes
Accents
Carvings

Sculpture: Figurative
Innocence Among Us
Celebrating Life
Becoming Form
Cast Paper

I welcome commissions for furniture and design accents for home or office. These works are approached as art or to be part of a private or corporate collection and as such are priced accordingly.

At my core I create and gain much personal satisfaction and meaning from creating. I believe that striving for excellence in aesthetics and craftsmanship are foundation stones of good design. Good design becomes a gift to both creator and receiver.

The design and creative process has been a teacher to me. Much of my gained wisdom has come from encounters with objects and imagery and the design and creative process.

Roses Red Oak Cabinet

The first cabinet I made after moving to Canada in 1975 had oak doors and etched glass with an art nouveau influence. The design using all solid wood was intended to create weight and presence while still not overpowering a very small room.

Being a designer requires engaging others,

Striving to find the connection points and common ground between creator and consumer.

Form and function come to life

Through the designer/artist in a manner that responds to the needs of the client.

Each piece of furniture that is designed and created presents the opportunity to explore and learn new aesthetic ideas, materials and production processes. A challenge of the pursuit of excellence requires stepping aside from one’s comfort zone of the known and mastered; and to move to the edge, take risks and trust that the creative process will fulfill the human hunger for learning and meaning.

It is a pleasure to work with a client who appreciates a design challenge and its role in aesthetics, gratification through craftsmanship and the sense of exploration and discovery in the creative object. In this butternut entrance stand no surface is comprised of a flat or linear plane other than the tabletop. The piece is constructed without metal fasteners, allowing mortise and tendon joints and four wood pegs to provide the structural integrity of the piece.

The subtle design consideration increased the involvement of the client in the work and deepened the meaning of their everyday contact with this object in their environment. The depth of relationship with designer and work led to the client commissioning an entire bedroom suite that further connected them with their years of business in the music industry in Japan.

The entire bedroom suite was made without metal hardware or metal joiners and the element of the curved plane was included in all surfaces and added to the surface of all dressers and end tables and counter tops.

Japanese Stand Butternut