Incollect Magazine Issue 7

98 www.incollect.com proved immediately fruitful. “Everything I could make was being sold and for the first time I could make a living as a designer.” “Timothy Schreiber’s work caught our eye immediately due to its strong, architectural lines which combine with fluid, organic shapes to form truly unique pieces,” say Erik Müllendorff and Kate Campbell, the owners of 88 Gallery in London. “His knowledge of materials and ability to combine form and function are exceptional. One of our favorite pieces at the gallery is his limited edition Molecule Bench which is a true piece of functional art and an eminently collectible work of contemporary design.” His work stands out in contemporary design, the dealers say, due to the organic and sinuous quality of his shapes — something they believe is so often missing from today’s computer-generated designs. “His work has its roots in natural forms, and his lines are fluid. Timothy's experience working with Zaha Hadid may well have enhanced his ability to reconcile form and function. The Molecule Bench is both comfortable and eminently sculptural.” Hadid may have been an initial and formative design influence on Schreiber but this is where the similarity ends. Whereas Hadid often designed furniture to complement her architecture using advanced technological processes and industrial materials with sick finishes that could be curved or shaped to the desired forms, Schreiber took the opposite approach to his designs. He works primarily with traditional materials like cast bronze or marble to create pieces that are tactile, luxurious and functional. “The first piece I made in 2005 was a hammer-formed aluminum table influenced by the fact that at that time Hadid was into polished silver surfaces, carbon fiber and car paints,” Schreiber says. He also created his first chaise in fiberglass but realized the design market wanted more traditional materials. “So after the early days of using more contemporary materials, I came back to a traditional approach, with contemporary forward- looking designs and visual language, but using traditional craft techniques and raw materials.” Understanding and respect for the inherent qualities of his materials and an ability to shape them in unique and inventive ways is one of the qualities that Müllendorff and Campbell say they admire about his work. “His work is deceptively simple. If you look carefully you can appreciate his selection of exceptional pieces of marble sourced at quarries around Carrara and Pietrasanta and his inventive use of traditional craft techniques to bring out all of the attributes particular to bronze and stone.” The E-Volved Centre Table by Timothy Schreiber is evocative of natural forms and the process of growth, as the three polished brass table legs grow and branch together to form the “crown” of the structure, which supports an etched glass top. Available from 88 Gallery through Incollect.com