Raw nature: Martha Sturdy distills the Pacific Northwest into object form

Looking to your surroundings for inspiration is familiar territory for most creatives and designers, but when that environment is the lush, untouched beauty of British Columbia, to properly articulate such beauty is a sure feat.

Therein lies the skill of the Canadian artist and designer Martha Sturdy, who has made it a point to authentically distil the scale and wonder of nature in her statuesque creations. Largely guided by materials and natural elements, such as salvaged cedar, bronze and minerals, Sturdy’s monolithic products convey craft, weight and age in furniture form.

Substantial tables cast out of white resin are tactile, yet non-porous and scratch resistant for greater durability compared to glass or wood. Spun brass platters and polished stainless steel bowls boast a materiality typically seen in ornamental objects, rather than pieces for practical use. Vases range from the geometric to the organically formed and are equally monumental in appearance. Peppered with details that evoke the wind, earth or water, the pieces in Sturdy’s collection each possess a extant sense of life that seems to bubble beneath the surface.

Since moving her studio out to her farm in Pemberton, Sturdy’s dialogue with the Pacific Northwestern landscape she inhabits only seems to grow stronger. In addition to a range of furniture, tabletop objects, lighting and jewellery (which she terms ‘wearable sculpture’), Sturdy has also taken on special commissions for hospitality, fashion and retail clients, including Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Four Seasons and Bergdorf Goodman.

INFORMATION

For more details, visit Martha Sturdy’s website

ADDRESS

Martha Sturdy (retail gallery)
12 W 5th Ave
Vancouver
British Columbia

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