The Center for Furniture Craftsmanship exhibits wood lighting that transcends craft

Honoring the often under-represented relationship between woodworking and lighting design, furniture and lighting designer Christopher Poehlmann of CP Lighting in Philadelphia has curated an exhibition at Rockport’s Center for Furniture Craftsmanship called Contemporary Wood Lighting. Running September 22 through January 3, the show features the work of 23 international makers whose techniques range from delicate marquetry to CNC laser cutting, as well as coopering, veneering, bending, and turning. The pieces range from practical to conceptual, resulting in a multifaceted exhibition in which objects demonstrate the medium’s capacity to imitate nature and yet deviate from it—for example, Duncan Meerding’s standing lamps are shaped like tree stumps and emit light from cracks along their sides, and Cameron Mathieson transforms Japanese tissue paper into lifelike but unidentifiable animal figures. All works share wood as the primary material that their creators have chosen to light their artistic vision. “In the hands of makers, wood can be incredibly diverse,” says Poehlmann. “New lighting ideas are popping up all the time, but there has yet to be a proper showcase for lighting design specifically in wood.”