This project began on a construction site while working with CDX plywood, a sheathing material usually hidden beneath houses, sheds, and quick builds. It is a grade of wood that is rarely celebrated, full of knots, chips, and imperfections, yet I was drawn to its surface. The grain carried a record of stress, weather, and growth, and the flaws felt like stories.

To bring those stories forward, I developed a process using recycled oil paint an abundant material at the art studio. This reveals the plywood’s hidden patterns, bringing out the knots and seasonal shifts in the layers.

The chairs take their form from Donald Judd’s simple geometries. I wanted the design to recede, keeping the focus on the material itself. Function matters to me as a designer, but the shapes remain minimal so the surface can speak.

At its core, the work is an invitation to see value in what is overlooked: construction plywood, recycled pigments, and the scars in everyday materials. Each piece asks the viewer to pause, notice the grain, the breaks, and the colors, and to find beauty in resilience.

This work was created for the Root Division Introduction Fellowship Group Show.