This was a sculpture that I started in 2001. It was inspired by the houses and boats along the Mekong Delta in Vietnam where I was born. This piece no longer exists.
Foundational to much of my work even today, was my experience as a wooden boatbuilder. This was a restoration project that I assisted with in 2003. Here we are re-planking an historic oyster sloop originally built in the 1800’s.
I’m most at home in a shop filled with tools and random chunks of wood and other materials that have been salvaged or tucked away for years until you find the perfect project to use them on. I’ve loved making things from an early age. In fact, making things is the thread that has stitched together nearly every chapter of my life. From sculptures to boats, houses, furniture and products, I’ve spent the past 24 years learning how to build these things from really talented people. All of them knew a lot more than me but were generous enough to share their methods, tricks and most importantly their passion.
Over time, my interest in objects that we make expanded. I began to think about the systems that these objects exist within. The decisions we make as designers and makers of things impact behaviors, relationships, economies and the environment. In an unexpected turn in my career, I’ve most recently been exploring the intersection of design, creativity and global security issues. The complexity and scale of these issues is a giant exercise in systems analysis, among other things. While this may seem like an unlikely stretch from the workbench, it is the challenge to apply new ways of thinking and seeing around this topic that interests me the most.
If you want to find me, I can generally be found in Providence, Rhode Island, where I am an Assistant Professor in the Industrial Design department at RISD; or you might catch me at my studio in Rockland, Maine. Thanks for visiting my site, hope you enjoy it.
This is a sculpture by the artist Martin Puryear. I was a studio assistant for him from 2000 - 2002. This was one of several pieces that I helped to fabricate.