Profile... Mastering Simplicity with Takeshi Iue
Takeshi Iue in his Adelaide studio. Photo courtesy of JamFactory.
South Australian furniture maker and object designer Takeshi Iue strives to achieve a sense of balance and simplicity across concept, form, materiality and construction within his design practice. Originally from Osaka, Japan, the accomplished maker is a JamFactory Furniture Studio alumnus and is known for creating objects that exude a visual simplicity that belies the complexity of their construction.[i]
Words by Caitlin Eyre.
While Iue originally studied graphic design, he credits his trajectory into furniture and object design to a chance meeting with celebrated South Australian furniture designer Khai Liew. Introduced to Liew by mutual friend, former Art Gallery of South Australia Curator of Asian Art and JamFactory lifetime honouree, Dick Richards, Iue was immediately enamoured by the notion of escaping the confines of computer-based design. “I felt that 2D was a bit limited,” Iue says. “I enjoyed the idea of being more hands on in my making.” Following this meeting, Iue undertook a Diploma of Art (Furniture Design) at the Institute of TAFE before going on to complete JamFactory’s Associate Program in the Furniture Design Studio. Several years after completing the Program, Iue became an Assistant Cabinetmaker and Designer at Khai Liew Design, a great source of pride for Iue given the tremendous inspiration meeting the designer had on him years earlier. Having worked with Liew since 2009, Iue says that his greatest professional achievement is that after fifteen years in the industry, he is still able to practice his passion and create objects he loves. “My practice has become more refined since working with Khai Liew and other cabinet makers,” Iue says. “It has changed a lot; in particular it has impacted how I see and refine the fine details in my own work.”[ii]
In stark opposition to his early graphic design origins, Iue does not use any computer-based technologies in his furniture and object design practice. Drawing on his Japanese heritage in the concept phase of the design process, Iue instead utilises a tactile materials-based approach that takes cues from traditional Japanese crafts such as origami to find inspiration. “I like to use folded paper and fabric to investigate how light falls on shapes and form,” Iue says. This process offers endless possibilities for experimentation. From this experimental phase, Iue begins to refine the angles, lines and proportions of his studies through rough sketches. “The shape comes first, that’s why it’s always simple.”[iii] Iue’s design practice is also informed by the traditional Japanese crafts of paper-making and sword-making, although he admits his interests in such traditional crafts were only piqued after he left Japan.
Beyond the dual ideals of balance and simplicity that are the hallmarks of his design practice, Iue is inspired by beauty above all else — be it the beautiful handcrafted objects held in museum collections or the remarkable treasures of the natural world. “I believe in the beauty of natural randomness and mathematical proportions found in both natural and manmade environments,” Iue says. Starting with concept sketches of these material experiments, Iue creates small models in order to conceive the design in 3D before returning to sketching in order to refine the form, lines and angles. A detailed full scale prototype allows Iue to painstakingly refine every aspect of the design before constructing the final piece. The result of these exacting and perfecting iterations is a beautifully designed, high quality object that imbues Iue’s steadfast commitment to crafting timeless pieces that bear the hallmarks of simplicity, minimalism, perfectionism and attention to detail.
Madonna and Child, 2018. Photo: Andre Castellucci.
Habit Chair, 2009. Photo: Takeshi Iue.
Earlier this year, JamFactory Creative Directors Emma Aiston and Daniel To approached Iue to design a new product for jam, a uniquely Australian designed and made collection of furniture lighting and objects. Overseen by Aiston and To, jam collaborates with a diverse array of local designers, makers and fabricators to combine traditional skills with modern manufacturing. The collection is designed to be ‘real’ and to include accessible, unique pieces that consumers can incorporate into their spaces and enjoy without having to live in a ‘show-home’. In designing a piece for the jam collection, Iue was asked to incorporate all the hallmarks of his own personal practice in the design, but in a way that can be easily replicated on a larger manufacturing scale. “Takeshi’s work has a beautiful and understated design sensibility which we wanted to incorporate into the jam offering,” says Aiston. “His understanding of form and the paired back nature of his aesthetic is complementary to some of the more complex pieces in the collection.”
While the product is yet to be finalised, Iue has designed a dual purpose timber piece that can function as either a side table or stool depending on the customer’s personal requirements. “I think concept and form have to be greater than function, because people will find the function themselves,” Iue says. “The designer does not have to dictate… People will find their own way.” The piece takes its design cues from Madonna and Child, 2018, a sculptural study of form and lightness inspired by the convenience and flexibility of nesting tables that Iue created for the 2018 JamFactory exhibition Adelaide Modern. [iv] “There is a bit of similarity in the form and delicate nature of the piece, it has a poetic form and a subtle mixture of shapes – flat surface, convex and concave – that creates the subtle gradation tones of light and shade.”[v]
While Iue’s practice has largely been devoted to the creation of commission and exhibition pieces, he is delighted to be engaging with product design and development. This project marks Iue’s first collaboration with JamFactory to create a commissioned product.