Kevin Michael Burns

So much is said these days for reclaimed materials. I often use them and have participated twice in Reclaim NYC and understand the importance of preserving, reusing, recycling, etc…but I would say

these pieces are less about reclaiming and more about claiming, you know, the conquistador kind of thing, the flag on the moon kind of thing.

A tree was cut down ripped open then I stuck my hand inside and felt around. I'm not trying to not sugarcoat it, but I want to emphasize what is going on in the making world - seizure and claiming. And the rationale is that there is a pearl inside the oyster. It will live on a necklace among others or on a gold earring backing and become an heirloom perhaps…

It's hard to say if the standing tree will live longer than the furniture made from it but that is something on my mind.

The idea isn't to decimate trees it's to put something into the world that is worthy enough to live on and take the meaning of a tree's life into the tangible, practical and modern world in which we all live.

…

One of my friends who is a thoughtful industrial designer was musing one day about his field - more

specifically making 1000+ of something. He said:

I really have to know that this is worth bringing into the world. Look at all the IKEA crap and particle board water-warped junk sitting on the curb or in a landfill. Do we need more of that?

His question touches me. And so, you know, I slid my hand into the wounded tree and pulled out the throbbing heart for these.

I search for hours in stacks of wood to find what will become the drawer faces and doors. If it's too light I toss it aside. If it is too knot-riddled I pan it. I want to find a paintbrush in these stacks. I want to make something beautiful and transcendent.

I’m telling a story. It's in the chiseled brass details and the custom legs. It's in the fiber of the dried
wood pulled from the earth. Something that lasts. Something that lives on.