Leo – Concrete Coffee Table
by Stone By Hand · Jersey City, United States

I was born and raised in Jersey City, New Jersey. Most of the furniture my family had when I was a child was from family or the local thrift store. The items were large, bulky and brown, with harsh varnishes that always clashed with one another. However, there was always a memory associated with each piece, a feeling, something larger than wood, screws and glue. This feeling made the pieces important, and beautiful. Exploring this feeling now through my own furniture design and creation has made me realize that furniture needs to evoke emotion, it needs to stimulate in ways other than material, texture and finish do.I believe my initial attraction to concrete was subconscious. Concrete is the most used building material in the world, it’s all around us. We keep concrete outside, to be used as steps, foundations, sidewalks etc. In our eyes, concrete is to be rained on and driven over, a material used to get from point A to point B. Our society is familiar with concrete, in a functional and industrial manner, but concrete as a material used for furniture building, is a radical development. I chose to bring concrete indoors, to bring it into the living space. I chose to celebrate concrete.I strive to develop a relationship between the client and the material. I want the client to feel the bond between the piece and themselves, for that bond to grow and change as they continue to possess the item. I cannot make a coffee table, a chair or something the client can only view as a functional object. I intend for clients to think of my work as their home, something they need and something they look forward to. The idea of building a sculpture before something practical always presented an exciting challenge when making household furniture. Concrete allows me to explore this challenge in the most beautiful way imaginable.