Keith Allen
I design and make wood furniture. I enjoy the breadth of possibilities that working in wood affords. I often seek out material with unusual natural characteristics, and try to let such material "speak for itself" through knots, cracks, distinctive grain, or color. But I am also open to altering or concealing the character of some woods, using dyes for example, simply to play with color or geometry, or sometimes to offer contrast with other "un-altered" woods in a piece.
Some furniture designers recite "form follows function" as a mantra, but, left to my own devices, my experience and preference is to concentrate on form, and let function of the resulting piece remain somewhat ambiguous, "to be determined" by the user. I try to make useful objects, without dictating or fully determining how an object might eventually be used. On commissioned work, I am not usually left to my own devices, i.e. the function of a commissioned piece is often pre-ordained. But my habitual approach of paying more attention to form than function still seems to work. At the very least, it typically provides a broader range of choices for fulfilling the commission, some of which might never have occured, had function been the only motivation.
I am self-taught as a designer and maker. My formal training in mathematics and computer science probably explains my interest in "plain geometry" as a design focus. The fact that tree-like structures appeared repeatedly in both my math and computer science studies may explain my attraction to trees and wood. I am at a loss to explain how humor has invaded my furniture, but I began making "fun-iture" early in my professional furniture-making career, and it has added a dimension of playfulness and enjoyment to my work.
