David Winter and Natasha Kurth’s design studio is a collaborative practice which steers their work in exciting and unexpected directions. The duo interweave their individual design backgrounds creating experiential surfaces which fuse graphic application with simple 3D form. The communicative value of materials and processes is the catalyst behind their products which challenge perceptions of fine art, design and craft. Their work embodies humanity’s need for a relationship with beautiful objects and is simple, sophisticated, very well executed.
The Graphite Side Table is playful and elegant, demonstrating materiality, potentiality and the exploration of the humble pencil, as the first tool a child may be given to create a mark upon a blank page. The marquetry surfaces begin as a blank leaf of wooden veneer. From this sheet, the elements are laser cut in different directions. Winter & Kurth reassemble the elements to create beautifully adorned tonal surfaces all created from the same blank leaf.
Their Graphite Drawings begin as a blank piece of board; even the faint grid is drawn by hand, every mark recorded. There is a tension throughout the drawing process of which elements to hatch and which to leave empty in order to create a balanced composition.
David and Natasha say, “In the broadest sense our inspiration comes from society, both past and present. We are particularly influenced by archives, ancient craft techniques, contemporary making processes and the value we place on materials and objects. There needs to be a concept behind the work, and often the concept becomes clearer through hands on engagement with materials and processes. We often work from hand to machine and back again to create work which fuses both traditional and contemporary craft practice.”