• Review of The Design Annual 2007, Inside: Private Identity, Part 2 – Design & Materials

How about good things? Or interesting things?

From rock ‘n’ roll rebel to furniture maker – an interview with London furniture maker Paul Kelley

By Le Vin Chin

Where do you get your inspiration?

Currently, most of my stuff comes from my favorite artists, like Donald Judd, Yves Klein, Barnett Newman, mainly American artists, and also Gustav Klimt, who I’ve always liked.

Which suggests you’re interested in the juxtaposition of colors and textures …

Yes, I get ideas from them for the colors, for example the Yves Klein blue in the desk, or the texture of the gold leaf. I see these things and I try to recreate in my pieces the feeling they evoke in me.

You can clearly see straight lines, very clean lines in your work: …

Some of the American sculptures I like are the ones which are really monumental – the ones which remind me of the obelisk in 2001. It comes from having lived in America for a few years, and having a much bigger space to work in, living in a country where everything is big. The grid patterns of the cities and the architecture … From being a guitar maker, where it’s all curves, I started seeing things at right angles and got into the mathematics and the proportions. When I design something, there’s normally kind of a constant, a number or proportion that I use throughout that piece.

What about the materials? You’re using all kinds of materials in your current work ...

The chairs are powder-coated aluminum; there’s also copper, acrylics, wood. I come from a wood background but I get very bored with using the same material. And I like to use materials that I think are beautiful. So I go through cycles: I will probably start to make a few things from timber again because I’ve worked in acrylics for a couple of years. It’s all about getting certain feelings from the materials, for example the softness of copper, which is also something that will age gracefully. Timber interiors are important because they give people a sense of familiarity and comfort. I look at all aspects of the materials.

And you also have all these different materials in combination …

The gold front panels on the desk unit are pieces of my former workbench, which I change every two months because of all the cuts in it, coupled with the Klimt influence. I wanted soft materials that are very minimalist on the exterior, because I feel that not many people play that much with materials. Normally, if it’s black on the inside it’s black on the outside, and I think you can do so much more.

Using reclaimed materials, using wood – that all fits in with current trends. Do you follow trends?

Everything around you – what you read, see, everything – you do absorb it, and it comes out in different ways. I’m not deliberately against the current trends, and I’m not deliberately for the current trends. If there are influences in my work then so be it; I’m not into trying to design something just for the sake of being new. People ask: “So what’s new? I only want to have new things.” My reply is: “Okay, but how about good things? Or interesting things?” There should be room for everyone. And I’ve always admired people who just give what they want to give rather than give what “the public” wants.

What kind of evolution do you see in your own work?

I see the quality becoming better, materials choices hopefully becoming better. A few years ago I was using laminate and now I can afford to use proper metals, like copper. But I want to start using other different materials like leather, suede – not just for lining interiors, but actually to make pieces out of them. And felt because I’m also into Joseph Beuys. I just think it’s a fantastic material, with a really nice texture, and it has those qualities: It’s nice to touch; it makes you feel secure. It’s the same with leather. And then if I was doing leather and felt I’d probably be using timber as well.

So, complete palettes of textures and materials?

Exactly. Leather and felt have texture, but are still fairly block colors, so I would introduce really nicely grained timber to give the pieces a bit more movement and feeling.

You do create pieces that require people at shows to touch them and play around with them to get a feel for what they do …

I really don’t like it when you can’t touch things. And you can learn so much from seeing what people do like and what they don’t like. I started to polish the blue desk inside with beeswax, so that when people open it the smell is really familiar to them and gives them a sense of security. If someone’s going to spend good money on a piece, they should derive enjoyment from it. If they show it to their friends and they go “wow” and it makes them smile, I think that’s a good thing.