brent comber is one of those people who works with wood who has seen beyond the obvious and yet at the same time has created something so obvious, you wonder “why didn’t i think of that?” comber’s work takes the natural aesthetic of wood and places it inside the box of his own design sense compelling the viewer to really appreciate the subtleties of the wood as well as the cleverness of the design he has imposed on the wood. and maybe imposed is too harsh - perhaps embraced would be more suitable.
what’s also really attractive about comber’s work is that he avoids the cliche of woodwork that uses driftwood, or found wood, or great lumps of wood and turns it into benches and stools. instead, he retains the delicate strength of the wood, clustered into a beautiful, simple collective.
most of the woods comber incorporates into his work are reclaimed or recycled. cedar, douglas fir and maple coming from fallen or already-harvested wood that would have otherwise ended up as wood chips or waste.
for example, this stunning table is made entirely from alder branches collected at britannia beach outside vancouver. the branches are dried and then fastened together in rows with nails and glue, which are formed into stunning cubic shapes. alder is a renewable resource which grows all over the british columbia coast.
another variation on his assembled pieces are the “shattered” pieces he’s created that are made from randomly shaped pieces of recycled wood that have been fit together like puzzle pieces. these pieces remind me of the stone-walls i saw in the fields of yorkshire. each assembled from thousands of apparently unconnected pieces and yet equally dependant on the other to hold the whole together both functionally and aesthetically.
comber also has a variety of unique, hand-made wood furniture that you might like to have a good long look at on brent comber’s website.
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