Origin to Object

Greg’s design process pays respect to the natural beauty of the timber he works with while fostering a contemporary aesthetic in the pursuit of function with a sense of poetry. The design process also includes considering the traditional and modern woodworking practices required to bring a piece to life.

Brandon is a furniture designer maker based out of Naarm (Melbourne), Australia. Working with a range of sustainable materials and techniques, he creates simple yet functional forms that speak to the materials themselves. His furniture pieces are honest in design and construction and built to last.

Joanne Odisho binds her knowledge of Interior and Furniture design to create objects of distinct visual appeal.

Her aim is to create pieces that fulfil an interior and evoke a sense of harmony within their environment. Along with this, her objects focus on highlighting the importance of cautious material selection and waste minimisation. With a firm belief in the importance of product life cycles, each decision is made with environmental impact at the forefront.

With a background in environmental science, vegetation planning and landscape architecture, Jess is interested in investigating alternative approaches to design, through prioritising retention and reuse. Woodwork and making have been a passion since high school. Jess is excited to create pieces that honour the embedded histories of the chosen materials and harness the potential of typical ‘waste’ resources or features.

Katrina Ramm (Ka Ra Studio) and Andy Webb are Naarm/Melbourne-based designers working collaboratively and independently on projects spanning furniture design, product development and more recently works for exhibition.

With a shared interest in object development, the duo have shaped their approach to design through the combined lens of their multidisciplinary backgrounds. With her background in furniture and interior design, Katrina is interested in an object’s emotive impact on an environment, while Andy’s graphic design practice explores how form, graphic language and strategic design influence effective communication for positive progression.

Katrina’s practice Ka Ra Studio has been recently featured on The Design Files and has been exhibited at VIVID Design Awards and Design Fringe.

Together the duo aim to create meaningful pieces that are simple yet practical in structure, with a playful sentiment.

Michael Seddon is a furniture maker based in Naarm. He lives and works on the lands of the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people from a studio based in Coburg North.

Michael focuses on solid timber-constructed furniture with an emphasis on traditional joinery techniques with a pared-back aesthetic. Using sustainably sourced and local timbers, his work seeks to showcase the origins and stories behind these beautiful materials.

Making well-made furniture that will last is also a priority of Michael’s practice. Pieces are made with an emphasis on the repairability of finishes as well as furniture construction further extending their lifespan.

Patrick Holcombe creates unique furniture with a focus on bold joinery that bridges traditional and modern woodworking methods. With a background in botany and ecology, Patrick’s work holds a deep connection to timber as both a sustainable material and also part of a greater ecological system. Based in a solar-powered workshop in Melbourne’s north, Patrick focuses on recycled and salvaged timber as well as sustainable Australian hardwood. Patrick is driven by the idea that to create great furniture is to create sculpture which lives to be used, not just seen.

Georgie Szymanski (she/her) is an emerging furniture maker and designer based in Naarm/Melbourne. Georgie completed a Bachelor of Interior Design (Honours) at RMIT in 2018 and graduated from Sturt School for Wood with a Certificate IV in Fine Furniture Making in 2022.

Georgie works with wood to create functional artworks, blurring the lines between sculpture, furniture and object. Georgie’s practice explores our relationship to our domestic belongings, aiming to foster greater intimacy with the material world through emphasising tactility and the sensorial experience.

Gaby is a multidisciplinary designer hailing from New Zealand now engaged in creating domestic objects, jewellery and spatial designs in Naarm, Victoria. The intersection between emerging technologies and analogue methods informs her use of ubiquitous materials, resulting in pieces that toy with the fluidity and control afforded by digital techniques while honouring material behaviour. With a background in architecture and set design, she utilises digital fabrication methods to develop concepts distilled with organic form-finding logic that attempt to toe the boundaries of a medium’s known limitations.

With a background in graphic design and speciality painting, Joe has a unique approach to the creation of practical objects. His practice in furniture making follows a fascination with innovative and artistic design.

His process is emotionally fuelled and practically realised, with a focus on materiality and form. The outcome is simple, bold, unconventional design created with a purpose.

Beginning his career as a carpenter Luke was motivated to discover a sculptural practice, Luke forged connections between carpentry and sculpture using timber, metal and most recently bronze casting. Luke’s artistic practice relies on personal intuition and an esoteric analysis, the practice can be hard to explain in words as the materials often inform the outcome. However, beyond the smooth, precise and immensely accurate sculptural forms is Luke’s inquiry into creating pieces that have an uninhibited flow where the works are free to develop beyond a preconception or determined outcome. Luke consciously exploits the use of balance and harmony to create a subtle linear aesthetic. The viewer is encouraged to connect and interact with both the negative and positive spaces of the works. Luke aims to discover ways for the works to seamlessly blend into the surroundings as if the works were always there.