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August Issue 2007
Plum Elements in Charleston, SC, Features Works by Michael Moran
Plum Elements in Charleston, SC, and Simple Designs Furniture are pleased to present Angles and Planes, an exhibition of new work by furniture designer and craftsman Michael Moran, on view from Aug. 30 through Sept. 30, 2007.
Most trees do their best to grow in straight lines, obviously. And so we have boards. Over many years, Moran has cultivated a sensitivity that allows him to change the direction of those lines so that they make sense to the eye and heart that's away from the forest. Using tools and techniques that are ages old, Moran is able to shape wood in a way that is in harmony with the tree's past - all beautiful fractal chaos - and the necessary order of the modern home.
"I thought about the other art on display
at Plum," says Moran. "There's beautiful Japanese ceramics
and brush painting and prints in these rooms. So I had to stop
and think about how my work would interact with those things.
And you know what? I can't wait to see it there."
"I tell people every now and then that my personal style
of furniture design has been influenced by what I've read about
Eastern religion and philosophy. Some poetry too. Imagining those
objects near and on my furniture has convinced me that it's true."
Mark Helprin has said that the catenary curve is God's own signature. Mathematically speaking, this is the curve you would see in a slack rope between two trees. Or the sinuous arc you might notice in the path of a finch, resting mid-flight, flying from tree to tree. Moran's hands and blades don't necessarily create curves in his wood, or any extra departure from the linear. But they certainly enable you to notice and more appreciate those that already exist.
For further information check our SC Commercial
Gallery listings, call the gallery at 843/727-3747 or e-mail at
(info@plumelements.com).
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