(topographic shelf)
For the design of this steel credenza (5'Lx2'Wx2'H) I rooted myself in the nature of metal as a material that has a long geological life and is therefore cyclically reused and recycled. I approach the metal as an inherently narrative material: a conversation with every form it has ever taken and every person it has come in contact with, a simultaneous acknowledgement of all the transient life it has outlasted and the unending connections it represents.
The design of my piece, then, takes root in the ecology of the Burren on the western coast of Ireland — dipping a toe into my personal narrative, as I have Irish ancestry — where the landscape is both gritty and beautiful, much like steel. On the Burren, thistles and mosses grow from cracks in the dark rock, and wildlife and livestock roam the cliffs. Here, the void between transience and resilience is breached, not unlike in the metalshop.
