Curve Appeal
The twisted art of furniture designer Rob Southcott
Rob Southcott works alone in a sawdust-covered 500-square-foot studio in Liberty Village. In the five years since he graduated from OCAD’s industrial design program, the shaggy 32-year-old has become notorious for two things: a Depression era–like zeal for using every last scrap in his finished designs (reclaimed wood became a sculptural chest, and he used wood shavings as a textural finish on a Nuit Blanche light installation in 2007); and furniture and tableware that manage to be distinctly Canadian without descending to beavers-and-brewskies kitsch. His simple birch plywood chairs corkscrew to a height of eight feet; when grouped, the antler-like backs keep the chairs from toppling. Southcott calls it his ode to social interdependence (custom order, $5,600). His smaller items (stackable totem pole–inspired cups and teacup-shaped votives) are no less artful. This fall, he’ll install four ceiling-height claw-foot table legs in 47 gallery, giving spectators the sensation of hiding under a table. 47, 47 Milky Way, 647-436‑9109. Oct. 9.
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