« One can travel this world and see nothing.

To achieve understanding it is necessary not to see many things,

but to look hard at what you do see. »

Giorgio Morandi

Not unlike a Morandi painting, simple everyday objects are given new meaning and life in the exhibition Still Life by Line Depping. A minimalist line of wooden sculptures and limited edition furniture touches the core and emphasizes the simple beauty and essence of the somewhat undistinguished, figurative elements of daily life. Still Life has been conceived for Galerie Maria Wettergren and represents Line Depping’s first solo show in France.

When entering the gallery, the first thing you notice is an ode to the poet’s desk and chair in maple wood which, classic yet refined in shape, leave room to think, work and write. The idea of creating a holistic installation mimicking a harmonic, austere room derives from an on-going interest in Japanese minimalism, quality, craftsmanship and aesthetic sustainability. Line Depping presents this curated selection of limited edition furniture, which holds the most basic needs such as resting, storing and sitting, and forms an ascetic and meditative room for life. The bench, table, chair and clothes rack are crafted with great precision, accentuating the embedded qualities, textures and tones of the Oregon pine and maple wood. The flawless, appealing forms emerge somewhat intuitively in the creation process, as time, precision and ease are vital elements for Line Depping.

Distorting the objects with precision

Line Depping’s works exude an obvious and enduring sensitivity and attention to process, which is translated directly into the wooden furnitures and sculptures on display in Still Life. At first glance, the forms are subtle, strict and almost quiet, but on further inspection you will notice refined details twisting the straightforwardness. The stringent, rounded wooden objects bear references to recognizable functional items such as combs and brushes of various shapes and sizes, but in the hands of Line Depping, proportions are lovingly twisted and layers of refinement in shape and scale are added; Thus released from their original functionality, they become purely sculptural items. A fan is amplified in volume, a comb now hangs on the wall as a relief, a clothes rack has massive feet, the table and chair have beautiful inward lines and in other works, a characteristic, offbeat yellow thread subtly breaks with the blissful, gauzy expression.

About Line Depping

In the exhibition Still Life, the awarded Danish furniture designer Line Depping (Finn Juhl Architec­ture Prize, 2015: Premio Vico Magistretti, 1st Prize, 2007, Bodum Design Award, 2011…), shows a series of limited edition furniture pieces and unique sculptures, which are crafted with great sense of intuition, playfulness and touch of the hand. Her practice moves between art works displayed in exhibitions, where the irrational and abstract are free to unfold, and the furniture field, where focus is primarily making ends in function, material, shape and production meet. In both her limited editions and commercial works, Line Depping thrives to find an interesting, insisting form that invites the viewer or user to continue to look at and explore further the object. To her, the aesthetic, perceptive and irrational is just as valuable as the rational.

With a penchant for wood and the processing possibilities that lie within, she continues to explore the qualities of steam bent or solid wood. The material provides a perfect base for Line Depping’s works and she finds excitement in simplicity and cutting to the core, whether in her limited editions, one-offs or commercial furniture for, among others, Skagerak and HAY. She shares some of her in­dustrial endeavours with designer Jakob Jørgensen with whom she received the prestigious Finn Juhl Architecture Prize in 2015 and a 3-year working grant from the Danish Arts Council. Line Depping has exhibited internationally for more than ten years, in places such as the 21st Century Museum Kanazawa in Japan, Design Museum Danmark, The Milan Design Fair, and London Design Week.