In work that explores texture and variation, wood artist Darren Appiagyei showcases the natural beauty of his raw materials – warts and all. Words Diana Woolf, Photographs Lisa Linder

By Molly Blair

Published: Tuesday, 30 May 2023 at 12:00 am

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Darren Appiagyei’s wooden vessels force the viewer to look at trees in a new light. Instead of working like a conventional woodturner and smoothing out the flaws in the wood, Darren highlights them. “My work is dictated by the imperfections, those cracks, those grains, those burrs, those barks,” he says. “I try to enhance those features that make the wood so beautiful and encourage people to look at it in a different way.”

Darren first came across woodturning by accident while studying 3D design at Camberwell College of Arts. Set the task of learning a new skill, he spotted that the lathe was never used, and he realised that this was an opportunity to complete his learning task without waiting to use more popular equipment.

He found working with wood therapeutic, enjoying the organic process of carving and the way it forced him to clear his mind of all external distractions – particularly important for Darren, as he had been a carer for his mother from the age of ten. No one in the studio really knew how to use the lathe, and so Darren effectively taught himself, with the help of YouTube videos and an open mind. It was obviously a successful exercise as during his final year he made a series of eye-catching vessels out of Australian Banksia nut, one of which was bought by the Dean of Chelsea College of Art at his degree show.

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In spite of this success, after graduating Darren took time out from making, focusing more on his mother than his career. A chance walk past Cockpit Arts Deptford, however, inspired him to reconsider and apply for an award offered by the business incubator in collaboration with the Worshipful Company of Woodturners. This was a career turning point as Darren won the prize – free studio space and use of a lathe for a year at Cockpit Arts. Six years on, Darren is still working at Cockpit Arts, now with his own lathe, and has work on show in both London and New York.

Darren’s making process reflects the happy accidents that have punctuated his career. He has few preconceived ideas about how a piece will look before he starts work, being happy to let the wood lead the creative process. “The work is a collaboration between me and the material,” he says. He is equally relaxed about the type of wood he uses and has stacks of holly, lime and birch as well as gnarled chunks of oak piled up under his work counter, all sourced sustainably from Woodlands Farm at Shooters Hill in southeast London.

Once he has selected the wood, Darren fixes it to his lathe. As it mechanically rotates he uses hand-held tools to gouge out and pattern the wood. When the outside is shaped to his satisfaction, he may then hollow out and decorate the inside. He is currently working on a chestnut vessel; the base has been neatly turned to look like a classical vase while the upper section remains untouched, complete with bark and burr, making the piece an intriguing synthesis of the man-made and the natural.

Leaving sections of wood untouched is an important part of Darren’s practice, as he likes to highlight what he describes as its rawness. “My family come from Ghana originally and the artwork there tends to be quite raw and organic, so I think I naturally gravitated towards that.” He is also influenced by a deeply held respect for nature, and says: “I feel we sometimes destroy things and try to alter them, but sometimes nature is beautiful in itself and we don’t need to improve on it.” Darren’s unusual skill lies in knowing when to step back and let nature speak for itself.

USEFUL INFORMATION

Darren’s work can be seen at Contemporary Applied Arts, 6 Paddington Street, London W1U 5QG. Tel 020 7620 0086, caagallery.org.uk, and Craft Front & Center at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York. For more information visit darrenappiagyei.co.uk Instagram @inthegrainn

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