zo o m
M A / Boston
Gallery IV AG A
Judy Kensley McKie:
New Furniture
Nov. 12-Dec. 18
gallerynaga.com
The Boston-based maker pres-
ents new carved, painted and
cast bronze work in the form
of delightful animal figures.
M A / Lenox
Sienna Gallery
Bettina Speckner
Oct. 2-30
siennagallery.com
Fashioned from organic sub-
stances, precious stones and
photo imagery, Speckner’s
jewelry seems to capture
moments in time.
MI / Detroit
Pewabic Pottery
Tom Phardel: Closing the Circle
to Oct. 31
pewabic.org
Working in stoneware and
mixed media, Phardel creates
contemplative objects that
often evoke the art deco style.
M N / Minneapolis
© Northern Clay Center
20 Ttars in Retrospect
to Nov. 7
northernclaycenter.org
Enjoy pots and sculpture, such
as Paul McMullan’s
Don’t Park
Here,
sampled from 20 years
of the center’s exhibitions.
W
P r o d u â f P la c e m e n t
S t u d i o R o e p e r
There’s a duality to furniture
made by Florian Roeper©, a
quality of warm/cool, sensu-
ous/cerebral, organic/indus-
trial. “M y work is about bring-
ing together different materials,
trying to make them fuse and
work together,” he says of his
pieces, which combine wood
and metal with scorched and
etched finishes. “Maybe that’s
a metaphor for me.”
The son of a German father
and an Italian mother, Roeper,
32, grew up traveling back
and forth between the u.s. and
Europe, attending elementary
school in the San Francisco Bay
Area and high school in Ger-
many before earning a degree
in furniture design and sculpture
from the California College
of the Arts in 2003. Following
an apprenticeship with the
master door maker A
1
Garvey,
he launched Studio Roeper
in Oakland.
“M y life feels kind of split
in two,” he says. “Sometimes
when I’m in one country I’m
viewing it from the perspective
of the other. Here in the States,
I identify as German, and when
visiting Europe I put on my
American lens.” He takes pride
in German traditions of good
design and solid craftsmanship,
of things built to last. A t the
same time, he loves California’s
natural beauty and freewheel-
ing, creative vibe.
Divided Lands II, his new
line of coffee tables, embodies
this hybrid sensibility. Its stur-
dy structure-a composition
of bold, modern lines in charred
white oak—effortlessly comple-
ments a dramatic etched-metal
tabletop that suggests the
stormy skies and molten depths
of some faraway land, with
graphic elements arranged in
the random geometry of a map.
In fact, Roeper is directly in-
spired by topography, “large
views of things, as if from an
airplane. I like how all the tex-
ture on the ground becomes
flat, just design.”
Roeper’s sensitive combi-
nations of various hardwoods
(all salvaged locally) and metals
offer customers a rich range
of tones and flavors: oak with
brass is earthy and elemental;
substitute zinc, and the result
is lunar, futuristic. “One thing
that’s always different is the
patina,” he says. “The etching
always gives you something
new.” It’s that counterpoint
and balance-thoughtful design,
construction and detailing
combined with the unpredict-
able surface effects of fire
and acid—that invigorate Roep-
er’s pieces, which are all fully
functional.
While his smaller tables tend
to be sculptural and experimen-
tal, he prefers to “hold back”
in his designs for dining, which
are simpler in appearance yet
still ingenious. His San Andreas
table© has a metal “fault line”
running lengthwise down the
middle that acts as a surface for
a wine bottle, candle or serving
dish, but also drops down on
either end to form pedestals.
“I’m not a huge fan of just in-
lay,” Roeper says of his use
of metal components. “I want
it to feel like it belongs to the
structure and the form.”
In his approach to his busi-
ness, Roeper has likewise
achieved a certain harmony and
balance. He’s able to express
himself as an artist but enjoys
collaborating with interior
designers and architects, and
customizing his designs for
the people who will live with
them. “I like when a client will
browse around, pick different
ingredients and then challenge
me.”—j .l .
studioroeper.com
014 am erican craft oct/nov 10
