Matthias Pliessnig

Matthias Pliessnig is an acclaimed furniture designer based in Philadelphia^[1] whose work uses steam bended wood. His style is "kinetically contemporary" and he uses "computer-aided curves with laborious craftsmanship" to handcraft chairs and benches.^[2]

Pliessnig is a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design and the University of Wisconsin (Madison). His interest in woodworking developed after he decided to build a boat and was inspired to apply those techniques, particularly steam bending of wood strips around a mold, to furniture making.^[2] The New York Times reported that his studio "looks more akin to a boat-builder’s garage than an icy SoHo loft, which makes sense when you consider the lunular shapes of Pliessnig’s chairs."^[1]

His first solo exhibition was hosted by Philadelphia's Wexler Gallery in 2008.^[3] Plessing's 2003 Shell is made of woods laminated mahogany wood strips around a concrete form.^[4] His work Bends is a bowed bench made from a grid of wood that "gives way to support the sitter".^[5]

In 2010, he was named a Fellow by United States Artists. ^[6]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Rosecrans Baldwin April 23, 2009 Furniture Design The Digital Ramble New York Times blog
2. ^ ^{a b} The Eye; Next Generation Matthias Pliessnig page 36 March 2009 Forbes Life
3. ^ Wexler Gallery website
4. ^ Jonathan Benson Woodworker's Guide to Bending Wood: Techniques, Projects and Expert Advice for Fine Woodworking Fox Chapel Publishing, 2009 ISBN 1565233603, 9781565233607 192 pages page 9
5. ^ In the Modern World Jul 2007 242 pages Vol. 7, No. 8 ISSN 1530-5309 Dwell, LLC Dwell page 50
6. ^ United States Artists Official Website [1]

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