
JULIEN HARDY
AFTER TWENTY YEARS IN ART DIRECTION, WITH EXPERIENCES IN PAINTING AND PHOTOGRAPHY, JULIEN HARDY EMBARKED ON A CAREER CHANGE AND TURNED TO CABINETMAKING. EXCEPT FOR A FEW EVENING CLASSES, HE TAUGHT HIMSELF TRADITIONAL HANDCRAFTED WOODWORKING THROUGH BOOKS. INITIALLY FOCUSED ON PURELY MANUAL PRACTICE, HE EXPLORED SHAKER FURNITURE AS WELL AS AMERICAN AND THEN SCANDINAVIAN STYLES. INFLUENCED BY JAMES KRENOV AND GUIDED BY CLEAN LINES AND DEMANDING, EXPOSED JOINERY. THROUGH CONTINUOUS EXPLORATION, HE REALIZED THAT WOOD IS NOT JUST A POLISHED AND VARNISHED SURFACE, BUT A MATERIAL WITH A BROADER VOCABULARY—ONE THAT SPLITS, CRACKS, AND REVEALS ITS KNOTS. HIS APPROACH IS TO REVEAL THE TRUE NATURE OF THIS LIVING MATERIAL, FROM ITS RAWEST TO ITS MOST REFINED TEXTURES, AND TO OFFER THEM TO LIGHT AND ITS PLAY, INVITING A MORE TACTILE WAY OF SEEING. JULIEN WORKS WITHOUT PLANS, SOMETIMES WITH ONLY A VERY ROUGH SKETCH OR A FORM, EMBRACING AN INTUITIVE APPROACH TO CABINETMAKING. HE SEEKS TO RESOLVE THE TENSION BETWEEN IMPROVISATION AND COMPOSITION, STRUCTURE AND FREEDOM, TO CREATE A RAW ELEGANCE.
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