In harmony with wood
- Alan started working with wood aged eight
- He is largely self-taught
- He features in the Irish Portfolio: Critical Selection 2019-20
Alan began woodworking from a young age, and was encouraged by teachers at school in Ireland to pursue his passion. Despite knowing he wanted to make furniture, he took the brave decision to study architecture at university, feeling it would give him a broader understanding of the field. “I still wanted to make furniture but I wanted to make good furniture. I wanted to know where furniture sat within design, globally,” he says. The experience gave him more confidence in the direction he wanted to take his woodturning, as well as a contacts book stuffed full of industry figures. On graduating, he set up his own studio to produce three strands of work: woodturned vessels, furniture and large outdoor installations, all linked through a common approach to the material.
INTERVIEW
It’s about trying to make a piece that reveals the structural properties of the wood, manipulating the material in a way that is respectful. We are trying to use the properties of wood to give certain surfaces – perhaps sanding it really smooth in one area, but then contrasted against sandblasting.
When you are working with the material it might throw up subtle things that you can then react to. Or maybe I make a mistake and it turns out it looks better. Those things are important, so I have to work in a certain way in order to allow those little happy accidents to be given the light of day.
I like the idea that a tree from a place has meaning beyond its material worth. For example, someone has a tree that grew in their garden and you make them a piece of furniture from that tree. There’s meaning in that which is often overlooked, because it’s not the cheapest way to make something.
I suppose it’s a love for a way of life. You see the project from start to finish, and that’s quite a satisfying process. Each day you get the whole life experience that comes with using a chainsaw to cut down trees right through to having work in a gallery, and everything in between.
