South Korean designer Bae Se Hwa steam bent hundreds of slender walnut slices to create the sinuous chairs, benches and desks that feature in this exhibition at New York gallery R & Company.
Bae Se Hwa Steam Bent Series features two benches, three lounge chairs and a desk shaped with steam bending ? a technique that uses steam's heat and moisture to make wood pliable enough to shape.
R & Company's Bae Se Hwa Steam Bent Series features seven pieces of sinuous, steam-bent walnut furniture
First designed with a geometric diagram, Se Hwa's works are hand-crafted from thin strips of dark walnut.
The designer warms slices in the steam box and then bends each individually over a structured frame, so they gradually vary in shape to form the sinuous designs. Among Se Hwa's collection is a series of lounge chairs, including Steam 12, which feature curved nooks for sitting
Due to this rigorous, time-consuming process, Se Hwa typically produces two to three of his steam-bent creations per year. R & Company selected seven "iconic" designs produced between 2010 to 2019 for its exhibit, which shows them all together for the first time.
"Se Hwa's exhibition at R & Company has been years in the making," said R & Company co-founder Evan Snyderman in a project statement."Each piece is a celebration of beauty and craft."
Steam's heat and moisture makes the individual wooden slices pliable for shaping
For Steam Bent Series lounge chairs, Se Hwa ...