Read an expanded version of this story in our July 15, 2015 issue!
15 students of Camosun College’s Fine Furniture and Joinery program are graduating, and are showing their final projects in an exhibit open to the public.
Studies in Seating is on now at the Cedar Hill Recreation Centre; the students whose work is exhibited have been in the program for the past 10 months, and their final projects are a diverse and interesting collection of chairs.
And while the prospect of staring at a bunch of chairs might not sound too thrilling to some, hearing Camosun College Fine Furniture and Joinery program leader Ken Guenter talk about it is enough to change anyone’s mind.
“The chairs are as varied as the students that we have,” enthuses Guenter. “They certainly reflect personalities, they reflect skill levels and their interest in particular historical periods or particular aspects of nature.”
Guenter uses student Paloma Shankar’s work as an example of how chairs can be so much more than initially meets the eye.
“Her mother’s from Denmark and her father is from Fiji,” he says about Shankar. “So when she started looking at chair design of course Danish modern came into play immediately, and also Fijan Tapa cloth in terms of decorative design. Paloma put those two together and created this absolutely stunning piece of work that deals with both sides of her culture. And you can sit on it,” he laughs. (Well, theoretically: visitors to the exhibit are not allowed to sit on the chairs, to prevent from potential damage.)
For Guenter, the exhibit represents the end of a year of work for the students and teachers, and he says it’s great to see how far the students have come.
“I absolutely love it,” he says. “We get students of such varied skill levels. Of course, we’ll get some who have been doing woodwork all their lives and furniture has been an interest, so they come into the program and blast forward very quickly. We get others who for them it’s an interest but they’ve never actually done it before. It’s such a joy to see those students move ahead, and even sometimes surpass the students who came in with previous experience.”
The wood used for the projects was donated by the Vancouver Island Woodworker’s Guild through their annual $800 donation. Every year, one student whose piece is judged as being the best in the exhibit is given a $500 award from the Guild: this year’s winner was Shankar.
Studies in Seating
Until July 2
6:30 am to 10 pm Monday to Friday; 8 am to 9 pm Saturday and Sunday
Arts Centre, Cedar Hill Recreation Centre, 3220 Cedar Hill Road
camosun.ca/learn/programs/fine-furniture-joinery
Beautiful chair!