Matthew Paré makes furniture marked by uncompromising quality and refined craftsmanship, with particular focus on hand and tool. He creates understated work with restrained detailing that shows off the natural beauty of native wood and an honest integrity in making.
Paré is interested in the interplay between function and form, how a decision on a simple curve or chisel-worked edge can make a strong impact on the function and feeling of a piece. His work is intended to sit in harmony with other objects within a room, adding to the overall feel, and yet having a depth of detail that fascinates and gives pleasure as it is used.
New works from Matthew includes these keepsake, jewellery lidded boxes which feature a pullout tray to reveal lower internal storage. The above box is made from solid quarter sawn 4500 year old bog oak from the Cambridgeshire fens. The rare dramatic tone is achieved through painstaking cutting and drying over two years. The tonal change is achieved by the natural process of how the tree was submerged in the bog with darker section towards the outside of the tree and the tannins of the oak reacting with the peat rich soil.
The below box is made from ripple sycamore and polished and burnished over weeks to achieve a translucent rippled effect that is ivory smooth, reminiscent of the aurora borealis. The sycamore was a rejected piece from a violin maker as it had a small knot and couldn't be used for the neck of the musical instrument.
Paré has created limited edition boxes with one further pure bog oak box in collaboration with local chocolate shop, Rococo Chocolates, who have kindly supplied a free 'starter bar' for each box.
Matthew made a chocolate box for his home several years ago with a few off-cuts from a project and enjoys the ritual of opening the box and sharing chocolate over a game, a movie or box-set binge. He subsequently made them as gifts and now as a limited run of 19 boxes for the gallery. All the boxes are made from solid English oak in various forms, each box is unique.
DISCOVER MORE WOOD AT CONTEMPORARY APPLIED ARTS
Bert Marsh, Angus Ross & Darren Appiagyei
