Local artist gives furniture a new design

photo by Sylvia Castellanos

An article in the Pasadena Star News drew Al Lorona to the Harris Art Gallery to see the woodwork by nationally renowned woodworker Sam Maloof. Lorona said he thinks Maloof's exhibit displayed "beautiful pieces." Maloof has sold his woodwork to Ray Charles and former President Jimmy Carter.

by Adrianna Gardner
Staff Writer

With the same sense of the phrase, “Beauty is in the unusual,” it also remains in the usual. Renowned master woodworker Sam Maloof’s exhibit at the University of La Verne brings classic beauty to everyday furniture.

It is a Friday, nearly 4 p.m., and the Harris Art Gallery is about to close.

The exhibit floor is full of wood furniture, yet patrons are not present.

This is a shame, as to see Maloof’s artwork is to revisit life’s mundane moments and capture them into a single fixture.

Flashback to your grandmother’s walnut armchair, your fifth grade wood desk or the oak nightstand by your bedroom post.

What do you remember most? How the smooth, polished finish made your paper slide off the desk?

Or, how when the nightstand glows when the lights are dim.

Maloof’s work captures all of these memories while incorporating detail, composition and design.

“It’s nice. I like the design,” said Glennda Bivens, sophomore communications major of Maloof’s music stands, a favorite of the exhibit.

“I feel a true generosity in the relationship between craftsman and musician,” said Dion Johnson, art department manager.

Johnson appreciates the “amazing balance” between Maloof’s formal presentation and design.

“I want them to be comfortable,” said Maloof, whose main goal is to offer customer satisfaction.

Maloof believes there is no mysterious secret behind his work. “I just make them,” he said.

Referencing the piece of furniture “Spindle occasional chair with sculptured arms” (1955), Maloof’s woodwork personifies sophistication.

The composition of the pieces resonate timeless simplicity and uniqueness, which can be applied to the very furniture we own.

The Chico, Calif., native taught himself the trade of woodwork after World War II.

Maloof, committed to emphasizing technique and design, while keeping the body in mind has spread his exhibits across the United States, the Vatican, the Vice President’s house, and the White House.

His work captures celebrities and political figures like Ray Charles and Jimmy Carter in their most intimate settings, where much their time is spent.

Directly beside photographs of family and Maloof in his youth, you can find this quote: “If any arts have lasting beauty they must certainly exist in utilitarian objects created by people and of the natural forms and colors and surfaces that place the eye and the body – and consequently live on through the years, growing more mellow and beautiful as time passes.”

This lasting beauty can be found at the exhibit where the composition of furniture allows you to regress on life’s accomplishment, mistakes and triumphs.

His dedication to woodwork displays integrity that all should work with when pursuing goals.

The question Maloof dares ask through his woodwork is: “What are you made of?”

Black walnut, ebony or teak? Plywood or cedar?

Every piece in the exhibit tells a story. Find yours.

Sam Maloof, international furniture maker hosts his exhibit in Harris Art Gallery until Feb. 27.