Wood if you could
By Jean • Aug 22nd, 2009 • Category: Special Report
Zeke Leonard has turned sconces derived from scraps into lighting and furniture that emphasis the beauty inherent in natural wood.
He lets us in on how reclaiming discarded materials to useful objects has become a part of his soul.
Krftd: Hello Zeke, we love that you reclaim natural wood and turn them into soulful pieces. How did you start this project?
Zeke: My former career was as a set designer for theaters. After about fifteen years in that line of work, I realised that everything I had designed and made in my life have gone into the garbage. That’s a lot of garbage. I realised that I needed to rethink my relationship to the objects that I designed, and to the materials they are made of. I realised that as a designer I have a responsibility to myself and to us all to make the world better in what ever way I can. My take on that has been to try as much as possible to reverse my previous approach to materials, and rather than make beautiful things and then put them into the trash, to take discarded things and make them into beautiful objects, objects so compelling that people do not want to throw them away.
Krftd: So, what does a typical day in the life of Zeke Leonard involve?
Zeke: Everyday varies. It could be a visit with a client, a visit to a junkyard or a vendor, or it could be in the studio. I like to work early in the day, when my brain works the best and my ears are at its sharpest. I listen to the material to try and hear what it wants to be and how it wants to be used. Some of my work involves simply sitting with the material to understand it and how best to use it. So my days are all very different, which is part of the reason what I like about them.
Krftd: We assume you exercise strict quality control for every piece?
Zeke: I choose every single part of every single piece that I make personally. It is a slower way to work, but my relationship with the things I make is very intimate. It is the only way I know how to do this honestly. I try to learn the history of every board or piece of steel, and when I am buying new wood or using plywood or sheet material, I use only certified lumber.
Krftd: How do you see yourself? An artist? Or a designer?
Zeke: Yes, I am both an artist and a designer. Most importantly I am a maker. The art/design question is one that bores me. To me it comes down to making. In a world in which we are told we must BUY objects and we must BUY aesthetics and we must BUY music and fashion, I believe that MAKING is a political act. An important political act.
Krftd: Do you think you have the chance of changing things in the world with what you are doing?
Zeke: By myself? No. Impossible. True, sweeping, positive change can only come if we all come together to change our culture and our assumptions. It is my hope that by using and living with my work people will be inspired to think about their relationship to objects and to materials, and will start conversation about that. It is my hope that in some way I can be an educator through my work, but also perhaps one of the standard-bearers of a less destructive way of thinking and acting.
Krftd: Where do you hope to see yourself in the next three to five years time?
Zeke: I have just moved my studio and started to teach at Syracuse University in Syracuse NY. This part of the world is rich with people who are also committed to a more sustainable approach to making and designing, and so I hope that in five years I am still here, being inspired by and educated by the smart people who are around me, and making and designing with them.
Krftd: Is there any upcoming project that you would like to share with us?
Zeke: At the moment I have some recently felled trees that want to be something, but I am not sure just what yet. There are a lot of landscapers up here that cut down trees for people, and the usual approach is to chip them up or make them into firewood. They are only too happy to let me have them instead. I am also very interested in the Erie Canal, which used to come through town, here. Water as a means of transport and power generation is intriguing to me, and I hope to find ways to incorporate that into my work.
Take a bow. Email Zeke Leonard to order his ecofriendly and one of a kind pieces.
If you also play a role in a sustainable approach like Zeke Leonard, Krftd would love to hear from you. Share with us in comments or drop us an email at ideas [at] krftd [dot] com.
