Wasp-Waist Table

A collaboration with ceramic artist Sarah Nikitopoulos

The Wasp-Waist Table was originally conceived for one of my earliest furniture commissions, with a panel of cherry wood inset into the bronze top rim (to harmonize with the commissioning client's other, more traditional furniture). In the following years I had often created multiple iterations of favored designs, enjoying the opportunity to explore subtle variations in form, gesture, and detail, as well as to revisit certain technical challenges of the craft with a more experienced hand. And while I've always considered the Wasp-Waist one of my strongest works, I had never found the right reason to reexamine the table in its original form.

Meanwhile, I’d been an avid fan of Sarah Nikitopoulos' functional ceramics for many years. Sarah's crystalline glazes speak to me of growth patterns and processes that seem  perfectly organic and at the same time exquisitely crafted. Unbeknownst to Sarah, I had been keeping my eye out for the right reason to propose a collaboration. When I first saw some early wall pieces by Sarah composed of tightly packed hexagonal elements I found an inviting link between Sarah's work and my own. The echoes in Sarah's panels of the hexagonal structures of insect nests and compound insect eyes reverberated with my own aesthetic concerns and suggested the next stage of evolution for the Wasp-Waist Table.

Sarah accepted the challenge eagerly, and soon we were exchanging images of colored beetle shells and samples of porcelain, iron, and bronze to make sure we were speaking the same language. From there we set to work, each in our own studio. I forged and assembled the iron and bronze elements that make up the body of the table, while Sarah pursued her own vision in forming, glazing, and fitting the over 300 individual tiles that make up the top panel. Finally, the bronze top rim was created around Sarah's spectacular tile composition and the Wasp-waist table emerged from its long hybernation.