Shuttle

"Shuttle" is an oval-shaped vessel fashioned from a block of solid Paldao wood. The piece serves as a direct critique of the hyper-processing inherent in modern manufacturing. Our manufacturing processes destroy the unique identity of nature to mass produce identical commodities.

The true power of the piece is a callback to its namesake, the weaver's shuttle sits between the conversion of wood into fabric. Through movement, darting continuously back and forth across a loom, the shuttle weaves fibers into cloth. In interacting with the piece, the wearer carries it with a similar movement, as it sways back and forth on the wearer's arm. Conceptually, it ferries them between the two distinct realms of the the pre and post-processed forms. The former represented by the preserved unique grain, and the latter represented by the object's function as a handbag.

By functioning beautifully in its solid, un-fractured form, the piece bridges these two states. It challenges the wearer to recognize that we do not always need to destroy the inherent character of nature to achieve functional beauty that we create. Perhaps, the raw and pre-processed form can already serve our modern needs.