Matthew Patterson

Huntersville

NC

28078

My inspiration for this table came from a scene in the movie, The Last Jedi, directed by Rian Johnson. The shot depicts a split picture of greenery and life on the top half of the screen, and dark dirt and decay underground on the bottom half. This is represented in my piece by the jagged burnt bottom on the piece, contrasted by the perfect unblemished top. My goal was to create a piece that required more than a quick glance to be fully explored. The viewer is given hints of the burnt underside of the table at certain places along the edge, and is then invited to look under the piece to discover something completely new. I used the process of Shou Sugi Ban to burn the bottom of the table. I used two massive Douglas Fir beams for the end grain table top, sourced from a local timber framer in Boone. The viewer's attention is pushed around the piece by the organic intricacy of the grain directions in each individual block. The two leg panels come from 1" Acrylic sheet, and the edges are sanded to produce a frosted finish. The table top is finished with several coats of Minwax Polyurethane in a satin finish. Several of the processes throughout the construction process were new to me, including using a propane burner, as well as a surface sander to flatten the top. I had to create a jig that allowed the top to sit on rails as it passed through the surface sander, so that the jagged bottom would not interfere with the flattening process. The intended market for this coffee table is geared towards a higher end, gallery level client interested in not just a functional piece, but one that makes a statement.

I am the designer and builder of this object