With globalization taking place rapidly, maintaining originality is becoming more and more of a struggle for artists.
The influence from other regions of the country or even other parts of the world is often taken into account in the creation process. While such fusion may generate some interesting products, it often times result in the fading of individuality.
To explore how designers can blend together the modern design vision and the traditional Pacific Northwest style, BC has presented “Made Local: Products of the Pacific Northwest.”
“It is an exhibit of locally made furniture to show the craft and diversity of the Pacific Northwest, and kind of see what sort of an identity is coming out of the Northwest.
“[We are hoping to show] interior design students and students in the school at large what local manufacturers are doing and inspire the students to bring some of these ideas into their own art,” explained Paul Davis, faculty and co-curator of the exhibition.
Entering the BC Gallery Space, you will find yourself surrounded by symbolic pieces of fusion furniture created by designers from Western Washington, Oregon and British Columbia.
“Traditional Northwest style is about an honesty of materials, and an earnestness of design… [it] is very important and still comes through in these works,” said John Passmore, co-curator of “Made Local.”
Though made with traditional Pacific Northwest materials, the pieces in show still capture the cosmopolitan vibe with approaches like lighter-toned wood and mixed materials.
A nice demonstration of this will be the Sidebar Table made by Urban Case, a company based in Seattle.
Being deemed the most representative piece of all, this standing height table with a glossy white top slides open to reveal exquisite laser-cut patterns on the inside of the many compartments.
Another piece that is worth mentioning is the Lounge Table made by Von Tundra, a company from Portland, Oregon.
“It is a very beautiful hard wood table, but it is a very light wood that has a very light sort of expression. Instead of putting something more elemental, like a piece of blown glass or handmade glass, they have put a smoked glass in, which sort of gives a sleek appearance,” noted Passmore.
For anyone interested in interior design and art, “Made Local: Products of the Pacific Northwest” is an exhibition you do not want to miss.
“I love furniture. I really love how modern it [the exhibition] is, how super local it is… it is very neat that everything is made locally.” Amy Rockwell, BC Interior Design alumni, said about the showcase.
“Made Local: Products of the Pacific Northwest” will be showing through Feb. 29 at the Bellevue College Art Gallery, Building D, Room 271. Hours are Monday through Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
For more information, please contact Michael Culpepper, co-curator at (206) 914-0830 or michael.culpepper@bellevuecollege.edu.