outside o f W isconsin. Born in Indiana, Rose
grew up in Europe. His father’s employer, a
pharmaceutical company, brought the family
first to France, then England. “M y parents
were always taking us on trips to see muse-
ums, different cultural sites,” he recalls.
Rose returned to the United States in
the 1980s, studying photography at Bard
College for tw o years before transferring
to the School o f the A rt Institute o f Chicago.
He w as hungry for a broad-based art educa-
tion, but also eager to w ork more directly
w ith his hands. A s a student o f sculpture,
he began making jew elry and casting bronze,
combining w ood and metal. He also met his
future w ife, Suzanne, another S A IC stu-
dent w ho is n ow a fine art photographer.
It was 1989, his last year at S A IC , w hen
Rose w alked up to Chicago gallerist Ann
Nathan w ith a Polaroid photo o f a jew elry
stand he’d made - one o f his earliest pieces
o f furniture. A huge fire had recently laid
claim to her gallery, O bjects, along w ith
eight others in the same building. T h e exiled
art dealers had set up temporary shop at the
city’s M erchandise M art. Even amid tumult,
Nathan was struck by w hat she saw.
“ It was fresh w ork ,” says Nathan, w hose
A nn Nathan G allery today specializes in
paintings, sculpture, and studio furniture.
“I can’t explain it. I never know w h y or how
I do a lot o f these things, but it w as very
fresh - and I took a shot.”
A fter some good shows and commissions
in the early ’90s, Rose and his w ife relocated
to W isconsin, purchasing their property in
D oor County in the spring o f 1994. N ot long
after, a road trip to the East Coast sparked
Shaker style,
G ee’s B en d quilts,
the scrapyard -
a ll have shaped
R o se’s aesthetic.
Far left and above:
Rose builds detailed
models to study pro-
portion and form. The
artist is meticulous at
every step, from these
initial models to cutting
hundreds of pieces of
colored steel and weld-
ing them together in
striking patterns.
Signs Strip Quilt
Cupboard, 2010
hot-rolled steel,
found sign panels
4.9 x 1.4 x 1.1 ft.
062 american craft feb/mari2
Furniture photos (3): Tom Van Eynde
