The Studio Craft movement in America developed as a response to the Industrial Revolution. No longer needing to produce functional and utilitarian objects for everyday needs, artists began focusing on design and aesthetic values. Artists working in craft materials, (wood, ceramics, fiber, glass and metals), began taking into consideration ideas of beauty, design, craftsmanship and purpose. Studio Furniture emerged as a subfield of this movement. Furniture pieces were now considered sculptural works of art made by artists who had a deep understanding of their materials and focused on elements of aesthetics. These works came under scrutiny by art and design critics and thus shifted the thinking of studio designed furniture.
The works in Studio Design: Contemporary Furniture at Craft Alliance, exemplify the ideas of studio made furniture. Each of these artists works out of their studios creating one-of-a-kind pieces that are featured in galleries and museums. All three artists are focusing on the expressive qualities of their media along with specific aesthetic considerations of balance, proportion and harmony. Brian Ferrell seeks to engage the viewer by introducing unusual juxtapositions of materials. His designs are sleek and he takes into consideration how each piece will function. Kimberly Wrinkle‘s involvement with the unexpected begins with her combination of traditional furniture making techniques with unconventional surface treatments. Using these forms as a blank canvas, she draws and paints on them to explore pattern and embellishment. Matt Keim’s approach to his work involves working with found or salvaged woods. As an experienced wood turner, he utilizes the lathe to enhance his designs.
Each of these artists takes on the challenge of juxtaposing form and function to work in harmony. As technology and materials continue to shape our world, Craft Alliance takes the time to honor the artists who continue to advance ideas of design and space.
Stefanie Kirkland
Director of Exhibitions
Matt Keim is an emerging wood turner who lives and works in Pacific, Missouri. Keim has been exposed to woodworking at as young age from his father who taught woodworking for over thirty years. He has been working in a wood studio since the age of 16. Keim has studied wood turning with artists such as Ray Key, Matthew Hill and Malcom Tibbets and was the President of the wood turners of St. Louis from 2006- 2007. Keim currently teaches in Craft Alliance’s wood turning studio at Grand Center.
Brian Ferrell is an artist who creates sculpture in functional forms, designing one-of-a-kind furniture and custom tableware. His work has been shown in group and solo exhibitions nationally, published in American Craft Magazine, and purchased by private collectors in the US and Europe. Ferrell was honored with a solo exhibition at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater during the summer of 2008. He holds a BFA from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and an MFA from University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth.
Kimberly Winkle, a native of Oklahoma, received her BFA from the University of Oklahoma and attended San Diego State University, California to receive her MFA in Furniture Design. After completing her graduate studies, she moved to Smithville, TN where she was an Artist in Residence in the wood department at the Appalachian Center for Craft. Winkle is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Art at Tennessee Technological University. Her work has been shown both nationally and internationally, is in a number of public and private collections, and has been featured in a variety of national publications.
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