"I want to retain the animated energy of the trees in my chairs. Hazel is my raw material and depending on its growing conditions and position the bark colouration is always different. By using the Hazel in its natural shapes I am incorporating stories, a different one for each component. Was the woodland wet, was it dense, was their iron in the soil, was it acid, and was it damp? Did the branches have to twist to get to the light, was ivy growing around it and biting into the bark? When the wind blew did one branch rub over another leaving a flattened scar?
The story continues when I get back to my studio. I have to carefully select sticks that really go together, offering one post up against another, looking for that perfect fit where nature, by pure chance, has grown components that 'work' together. My hands work as if they had knowledge of their own, creating a chair that goes beyond functionality, into the realms of grace and beauty." Alison Ospina
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