JUNE 13, 2024 GRACE EBERT

“Group Work.” Photo by Kate Benson. All images © Aspen Golann

For Aspen Golann, determining the function of an object is the perfect creative constraint for beginning a project.

For Aspen Golann, determining the function of an object is the perfect creative constraint for beginning a project. Working almost entirely by hand in her New Hampshire studio, she carves and sands wooden furniture, spoons, candlesticks, and other goods with a playful twist.

“Group Work,” for example, contains a single handle that forks into five heads, while even more minimal designs like the “Double Loop Brush” elegantly stacks two perfectly round spheres atop one another. “I find that function often suggests a starting point—like a place to put the hand, a type of anticipated movement, or an expected lifespan of the object (heirloom vs. disposable),” the artist tells Colossal.

“Double Loop Brush.” Photo by Loam Marketing

Trained in the traditional woodworking techniques that dominated British and American life from the 17th to 19th century, Golann is clued into the historical implications of colonial-style furniture and design. As she was learning, she “kept wondering if their beauty could be disassociated from the racism, classism, and misogyny of that time? The answer for me is no,” she notes. “I think that all objects and aesthetics are products of the culture that made them.”

The artist in her studio. Photo by Loam Marketing

Rather than abandon the visual language of this era altogether, Golann decided to skew the tradition into more lively, lighthearted objects. Techniques like inlays and laminations appear in small works designed for domestic labors, whether cleaning and homemaking or growing and gathering corn tassels to create a broom head. “I think (it) humorously conflates the high status and masculine associations of fine furniture with these small domestic objects most often used by women,” she shares. […]

“Maple S Brush.” Photo by Loam Marketing

More: Aspen Golann’s Elegant Brooms and Brushes Take a Playful Approach to Woodworking — Colossal