Sundial Table
- Fall 2023
- Red Oak, Maple wood
- 24in. x 24in. x 36 in.
In order for a sundial’s timekeeping to be accurate year round, the needle’s angle must exactly match the latitude of the location of the sundial, tying its ability to function properly to one specific place.
The needle’s angle and location is “calibrated” to my hometown (40.5°), as well as using the same wood species as my backyard trees. The classic picket fence became the inspiration for my frame, as a reminder of suburbia, and the people and homes I grew up around.
IKEA Dining Chair
- Summer 2024
8cm. x 4cm. x 4.5cm. (1:10 scaled model)
After visiting the IKEA headquarters and meeting some current designers, we were tasked with building a scaled model of a fully furnished dining room, with one original design using the guiding principles of IKEA: function, form, quality, sustainability, and affordability.
This dining chair’s gently curved backrest and sturdy frame create a simple base that pairs well with many environments. However, the pre-drilled holes along the seat edges and backrest create a freeform ‘loom’, allowing the user to design and customize their own woven seat. Each chair pack would come with a spool of fabric twine made from IKEA’s upholstery fabric waste, supporting a zero-waste sustainability goal while adding a new layer to IKEA’s signature DIY ethos.
Step Stool
- Spring 2024
20in. x 17in. x 18in.
This project draws from the classic, all-American silhouettes of picnic benches and the geometric forms of mid-century modern furniture, marrying them into this step stool. The diagonal placement of the steps makes the stool usable from both sides, and the continuous top step also creates an easy “handle” for carrying with one arm.
Rake Chair
- Fall 2024
- 60in. x 22 in. x 20 in.
This chair pays homage to the seasonal activity of raking in autumn leaves and feeling the vibrant summer fall away into a steely winter. Its severe angles and towering scale bring an ‘American Gothic’ sensibility to childhood Americana, making for an almost sardonic contrast.
Process
Terrain Brush
Spring 2024Cherry wood, tampico fiber, leather, brass
4in. x ⅞ in. x 3 ¼ in.
Working with three other students, we designed and produced an edition of 20 brushes. This design is intended for cleaning uneven surfaces, as each brush ‘leg’ is attached to a dowel and can rotate in either direction. One ‘leg’ is made taller to provide a secure grip around the thumb, and the leather strap makes for easy carrying and hanging for storage.
While the brush is intended for moving across uneven terrain, the faceted silhouette of the brush ‘legs’ themselves give the effect of small buildings, creating a playful juxtaposition between nature and architecture.
Inheritance Box
Spring 2024Maple wood, milk paint, receipt paper
9 ⅜ in. x 5 ⅜ in. x 10 ⅝ in.
This stackable set of boxes is made to store all of the things you might inherit from your family tree: your face, your possessions, your history. The top tier stores makeup to enhance your mother’s eyes or your father’s nose; the second tier stores jewelry, old photographs, and trinkets; and the third tier contains a roll of receipt paper, to store all of the memories your family gave you, good and bad.
Giraffe Stepstool
Spring 2024Plywood, milk paint
15 ½ in. x 13 ½ in. x 20 ½ in.
As a challenge to create a children’s furniture product using a single sheet of 30x30” plywood, I was inspired by giraffes to create a step stool, playing on their distinctive height and similar color scheme to that of natural wood. This piece was cut using a CNC machine, and is constructed to be fully functional and stable without any screws or glue, for ease of assembly.
Accordion Lamp
Summer 2024Bristol board, vellu, brass paper fasteners, lightbulb
18cm. x 14cm. x 14cm. (compressed height, not including handle)
This lamp prototype is inspired by the silhouette of black Danish pendant lamps, and the common use of paper folding in lamp making.
Together, they create this compressible ambience lamp, allowing one to adjust the brightness in the room with a simple locking mechanism. Its size and handle make this a portable lamp, so it can also be easily moved about a living space or with a person.
The intended materials for a final product would be powder-coated steel, vellum, and use a battery-powered bulb rather than a wire.
Garlic Bulb Mobile
Spring 2025Maple wood veneer
24in. x 6in. x 6in.
Inspired by the gentle curves of a garlic bulb, this spinning mobile serves as both an airy, playful toy and an exercise in the capabilities of bent lamination and modular design.
Each piece is made with 4 layers of supple maple veneer, using the same mold to vacuum press each piece. As a result, the center bulb features a mesmerizingly repeated twist, while the differences in how the shoots and roots are cut out for each piece create variety and uniqueness in the overall silhouette.
Using oil pastel mixed with beeswax, the top shoots have a subtly green tinge, alluding to the mobile’s garlic-based inspiration.
Process
We Need to Talk
Fall 2024Mild steel, nylon mesh, thread
66in. x 36in. x 96in.
After taking a course at Brown University on mechanical engineering, I was fascinated by the difference in how the course examined materials compared to my Form in Metals class at RISD. Much of the course focused on how a material breaks, deforms, or fractures under force. Inspired by this different perspective, I wanted to make a structure that felt as though it was about to break under tension, but wouldn’t.
Upon thinking about tension as a mechanical property, I was also reminded of tension’s definition as an emotional property, though both had this association of suspension or something being pulled at. Uniting these concepts, I designed this set of chairs and an intermediate screen to ‘facilitate’ or perhaps create a tense conversation between two people. Between these high-backed chairs, a double-pointed spear is suspended entirely by the support of triangles of mesh fabric, capturing the dangerous yet mesmerizing quality of the moment before impact.