This workshop is part of our partnership with The Furniture Society and their FS Connects Summer programming. Click this link to REGISTER FOR COOPERING with Phoebe Kuo (this will take you to The Furniture Society website.)
Coopering, a technique traditionally used to make buckets and barrels, has been adapted to other contexts with exciting results. In furniture and sculpture, coopering allows us to construct custom curves without the use of steam, heat, or force.
In this class, we will look at diverse examples of coopering used by contemporary craftspeople, both in wood and across other mediums. We will talk about the conceptual potentials of coopering, and how the instructor uses this technique to propose alternative narratives around space, power, and belonging. Finally, she will show how she creates her work in her compact apartment studio with minimal machinery.
This class is part of our partnership with The Furniture Society and their FS Connects Summer programming.
All skill levels welcome. No prerequisites. All you need is a computer and a good internet connection!
A Workshop of Our Own (WOO) is a non-profit safe space for woodworking skill-sharing for underrepresented genders. Class enrollment is usually limited to non-binary, trans, and woman-identifying people, but now and then we extend that safe space to all. This is an ALL GENDERS class. Welcome!
All class times are in U.S. Eastern Time.
Phoebe Kuo (pronounced “quo”) is a studio woodworker who makes site-specific sculpture using traditional furnituremaking techniques. She was born in Lompoc, California, to Taiwanese-American mathematicians, and grew up navigating hybrid identities, which she continues to explore as a queer artist of color. She received her MFA in Design from Cranbrook Academy of Art, a certificate in Fine Woodworking from The Krenov School, and her BS in Product Design from Stanford University. She currently lives in Evanston, IL, where she enjoys swimming in Lake Michigan.
See more images of her work below, or by visiting her website phoebekuo.com or on her instagram @pfebes
