Joseph Walsh

This canopy bed is the most recent output in the Enignum series of furniture which Joseph began producing in 2009. The concept began with the idea of stripping wood into thin layers, “manipulating and reconstructing these layers into free form compositions. I then shape the layers to reveal not alone the honesty of the structure but the sculpted form, which is a unique collaboration of man and material”. The overarching concept of Enignumhas informed each new piece of furniture, and with the making of each new piece, the knowledge of the material and the experimentation with possibilities has been pushed further, so that in the editioned work, no two pieces are the same. His process starts with drawing, before going into the sketch modeling stage, reinterpreting forms with the actual material. Bringing Joseph Walsh and Felicity Aylieff together in the same space is a direct reference to the magnificently restored State Bedchamber, proposing a new interpretation of the idea of a canopy bed combined with free-standing sculpture. A pair of chairs by Joseph was acquired by the Duke of Devonshire in 2010.

 

Joseph Walsh works in Fartha, near Cork. Self-taught, he set up his state of the art studio complex in 1999, with a small team of technicians assisting at all stages of the design and making process. Joseph’s work makes regular appearances at Salone di Mobile, Milan, and Collect, London. Most recently Joseph exhibited in Against the Grain: Wood in Contemporary Art and Craft, Museum of Art and Design, New York. Joseph has a keen following amongst international collectors in the USA, Canada, Italy, Switzerland, and Ireland.