Interview with Dawson Moore - Michigan Sloyd
September 2022
“It creates a cycle of learning where I get to apply traditional and experiential knowledge while gaining insights from the unique qualities of each tree. This direct connection to the material adds to my sense of place and identity.” - Dawson Moore
IMWG:
Where does your relationship with the material begin?
DM:
It really begins with the land - I can walk into my backyard and directly source phenomenal material. I get to make every decision about the harvest: species, size, topography, soil, shade cover, season, particular growth characteristics, effects on the surrounding woodland. It creates a cycle of learning where I get to apply traditional and experiential knowledge while gaining insights from the unique qualities of each tree. This direct connection to the material adds to my sense of place and identity.
IMWG:
What do you enjoy most about working with wood?
DM:
There is a feeling about wood that it's always been there to be used and manipulated by humans, an inseparable union. Using just our hands, we could pluck some birch bark to fold a container, break off some twigs to weave a basket, strip some bast to make cordage, collect fuel for fire, build shelter, and the list goes on. Add just a couple simple tools, an axe and knife, and the possibilities are nearly endless. You can feel exactly what's happening right at the edge of these tools as they engage the material. They truly become an extension of the hands. I am extremely drawn to this immediate nature of wood as a material. There is virtually nothing separating the work from the object in the mind’s eye.
IMWG:
How has your perspective on process evolved?
DM:
I’ve been trying to cultivate a more relaxed approach to my work as I transition away from production oriented spoon carving and toward more focused chair making. The tight tolerances involved in the chairs draws even more attention to the specific qualities of the material. Growth ring size, moisture content, grain direction, grain figure, grain orientation, species, harvest conditions all have crucial ramifications. I’m trying to give myself the time to get all these right, without compromise, without rushing to meet self imposed efficiency goals. The finished surfaces are mostly achieved with edge tools. Again, I’m allowing myself the time to keep these tools at peak sharpness to enjoy the greatest amount of finesse and tactile feedback as I work. I’m learning something about the material and my tools with every stroke. It is these moments of being present with the material, feeling the sharp blade slice through the wood fibers, and watching a form take shape that drive the entire endeavor. This process is the thing, at least equal to if not more so than the final object.
“This interplay of tradition and mindful work is what I hope comes across in my chairs. ” - Dawson Moore
IMWG:
What are your thoughts on the relationship between the material qualities of wood and how we interact with the final object?DM:
DM:
Wood has always been inextricably linked to humanity. It formed the basis of material culture for tens of thousands of years. I think wood has this automatically familiar, friendly, nurturing, calming, and comforting nature. I try to accentuate these qualities in my work. Subtle facets on long grain surfaces are there to be explored with fingertips and be suggestive of the longitudinal wood fibers. End grain polished into optic lenses offers a window into the wood’s cellular structure. Slender, steam bent parts suggest strength and flexibility. Encouraging these qualities to express themselves is meant to provoke that innate sense of connection we all have to the material and hopefully sets a tone for how we might relate to the object as a whole.
IMWG:
Looking beyond the material and now at the objects themselves, what do you hope to achieve in your practice?DM:
DM:
At this stage, I am designing for myself and my family. I have always been rather concerned with my built environment and its ability to affect my mood. Chairs especially seem to have a tendency toward anthropomorphism. The design question then almost turns from ‘what do I choose to live with’ to ‘who do I choose to live with’. It’s more akin to choosing a roommate. What does life look like day to day with this new entity in the home? I want calm, quiet, inviting, serene, humble, honest, familiar. A good place to start seems to be archetypal chair forms, objects the mind reads instantly as ‘chair’. I let that be the foundation. There is a universe of potential self-expression in the details. The details are where my skill and the material can meet to tell a story about a particular object.
The making is just as important as the final object. I have to do the design and I have to do the making. Both have to get out of me. The designs have to fit how I like to make, fit the materials, fit the tools, fit how I imagine using them, fit the body, fit the life in our home. All at once. All informing one another. It’s an internalized design brief. The conditions get rolled around in a swirl. A form starts to appear and gets passed through the conditions, over and over. Each iteration either solving or creating new problems to be cycled through again. It’s distillation. Removing impurities. Forms bubbling to the surface. The object feels considered, thoroughly. The object reflects the points of consideration.
IMWG:
If I ask you, what is “craft”, where does your mind go?
DM:
I’ve never felt more unsure of the definition of craft. It seems the more I think about it, the more obtuse it becomes. A common train of thought is to attempt to define the ways in which craft relates to art. The distinction between the two feels murky. Some want craft objects to stand on their own, without need of defense, explanation, context, or story. We seem to be in a time when craft is no longer a part of the status quo, an industry of necessity. Rather, it seems that craft exists today as a reaction to the status quo, an attempt to find meaning in an increasingly meaningless world. This reactionary stance seems to automatically infer elements of context, story, personal history, place, etc. The craft object doesn’t make sense in our modern time without understanding why a person might choose to make it. It starts sounding like art to me. I could make arguments to define craft around concepts of functionality, or skill manipulating a material, or links to tradition, but I could make the same arguments for art.
It might be that craft is simply making things with our hands. I don’t think I want to define it more specifically.