GUTHRIE JOSEPH AVRUM SIWINSKI2025
The leaves turned red then green again, And I learned that nothing dies forever. I grew and found that life is certain to continue. And I fell in love with the process of becoming.
I gathered plant stems and rolled them between my fingers and loved when the tar in the asphalt hit my nose. I buried myself in the hot sand in the dunes and watched the shadows flicker and bounce around under the cover of a big tree. I didn't know a lot, but I was forgiving. And I held my hands out constantly, trusting that whatever was placed in them would be something of value. A drizzle of rain was a welcomed guest because it meant change. And a rip in my pants, or a mud stain, meant they had been loved. And love was so important to me. So I learned to offer care to everything just because it exists. I was eager and honest and knew what I needed to know.
And now, The same birds will still chirp the same song when I listen through the window of my old house. There are still millions of blades of grass that are yet to feel a shadow wash over them. And a million plant stems to be rolled between fingers.
And there is someone else out there hearing the wisdom that the world offers if you would only listen.
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43 x 19 x 19
Cherry, Maple, Walnut, Red Oak, White Oak, Ash
How could I create a piece with the least amount of bias? In an attempt to deskill my process and relinquish control, I decided to create the context in which this piece would exist, and then step back as much as possible. The simplistic joinery system allowed for design decisions to be informed by intuition and chance rather than following traditional design elements. The placement of each stick was decided by throwing a ball into the air and removing whichever piece it landed on from the grid. This functional bench was born from a system that is rooted in happenstance. I am exploring what it means to have a symbiotic relationship with my work wherein we both allow ourselves to be.
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December 2024
Photo By
Sam Balaban
34 x 34 x 17.75
Ash
This piece reverses the anatomy of a standard table. It is solid on top and remains as an unpierced plane. The legs mirror each other and touch the ground delicately while reaching for the underside of the table. I wanted to design a shape that could exist in multiple contexts at once. The pieces which became the legs of the table originally started upside down as the legs of a bench. The moment when the legs split away from each other creates a movement that I am eager to replicate in my future work.
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October 2024
Photo By
Sam Balaban
40 x 28 x 15.5
Ebonized Red Oak
This table plays on the organic shapes found in nature, utilizing simple construction to emphasize the natural feel. It incorporates rocks from the coast of Maine as an intrinsically natural material. The hand-carved underside serves as a subtle attention to detail that brings the table out of planer. This piece sits solid and stable, yet playful, in how it interacts with the space around it.
Available at &Son in Soho NYC
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December 2023
Photo By
Sam Balaban
35 x 18 x 15
Maple
In woodworking, we often blur the line between additive and subtractive processes, using both simultaneously throughout a project. With the Sled Table, I wanted to define this line and make it as clear as possible. I began by building up, with basic boxy forms and hard edges. I ended by breaking down, carving, and shaping away all excess material to achieve the smooth and subtle curves.
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July 2024
Photo By
Nate Walker
16.5 x 16.5 x 27
Cherry
What would it mean to make a piece that is fully fueled by intuition? It would mean dropping the traditional standards of value that defines most furniture. It would mean allowing something to come directly from the heart and giving it to the world, free of prejudice. With this piece, I have started a long journey of finding the middle ground between arbitrary standards of value, and innate ones. The very traditional construction of this piece, contrasted with the non-traditional elements, is just starting to break that line.
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November 2024
Photo By
Sam Balaban
18 x 18 x 26
Ebonized Red Oak
I wanted to play with the idea of negative space. In the places where there should be defined connecting lines, there are open voids that allow for this piece to be viewed from perspectives that are often hidden. This, along with the six legs that meet to create three distinct points, make a perfect opportunity for some unique journey that ties the whole piece together.
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March 2024
Photo By
Nate Walker
23 x 14 x 14
Cherry & Wool Yarn
Experimenting with a classic design, this table finds a nice balance between its contemporary elements and traditional style. I crocheted the granny square hammock/shelf to work both functionally and aesthetically. The soft texture of the yarn contrasts nicely with the solid and smooth wood.
Available at &Son in Soho NYC
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September 2023
Photo By
Sam Balaban
24 x 24 x 29
Walnut & Cotton Cord
This piece utilizes the same minimalist design and clean lines that are found in its counterpart, the Bodhi Table (below). Acting as a functional seat for meditation and a comfortable place to lounge, the Bodhi Chair finds a balance between aesthetic and comfort.
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MoreJune 2023
Photo By
Sam Balaban
19 x 19 x 19
Walnut & Leather
Mixing the clean lines of Danish furniture with the understated simplicity of Japanese style, this side table was created as a companion to the Bodhi Chair (above). This piece strikes a balance between symmetry and functional design, allowing it to exist in any space.
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MoreJune 2023
Photo By
Sam Balaban
7.5 x 6.5 x 1
Found Photos & Cyanotype Prints Collected in a Handbound Book
This project was born from the idea of gathering. We live our lives constantly collecting abstract experience and in many ways the act of living life is an act of gathering. This collection of found photos, and poems which were written over the course of a year, have been curated to illustrate the process of gathering the experiences of empathy and care. The poems and the photos follow the steps of learning these emotions. By combining these poems with photos of strangers, this work creates a space where the honest and vulnerable emotions that are felt through the writing, can pass through and be applied to the strangers in these photos. The goal is for the reader to question their individualistic thinking and begin to feel the oneness of everyone and everything, to begin to sense their capacity for radical empathy and care.
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April 2024
Photo By
Olivia Propeck
39 x 12 x 1.5
Ash & Recycled Skateboards
In the summer of 2022, a tree fell in my uncle's yard. It was an old ash tree that had stood on the property for as long as he had lived there. When he mentioned this to me I told him, “Fender guitars are made of ash.” This project began two years before it was finished, when I first split the wood and allowed it to dry in my attic for three months before milling. From Pennsylvania to New Jersey, to my first year at college in Maine, this guitar traveled with me and grew up as I did, and was named Ashley after the tree that started it all.
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March 2024
Photo By
Samuel Falzone
These pieces were born from curiosity, created by deconstructing used skateboards, and piecing them back together. I experimented with new materials and new processes, pushing them to their limits and learning to take the old and make it new. These pieces serve as an exercise in trusting the process and not being attached to a result.
More2022 - 2023
photos by
Samuel Falzone
39 x 12 x 1.5
Recycled Skateboards & Mahogany
I built my
first functional instrument in between my homework assignment and high school classes. It was created over a month in my garage with tools borrowed from friends. Made through a similar process as my skateboard sculptures, it eventually informed the creation of Ashley.
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December 2022
Photo By
Samuel Falzone
Experiments to ask questions of.
More2024 - Present
Photo By
Sam Balaban