Felled: Reimagining Timber Supply in Contemporary Craft Practice
Presented by Craft Victoria
DETAILS
Free, no booking required
Craft Victoria, Watson Place, Melbourne VIC, Australia
DATES
Thu 14 May 11am – 5pm
Fri 15 May 11am – 5pm
Sat 16 May 11am – 4pm
Tue 19 May 11am – 5pm
Wed 20 May 11am – 5pm
Thu 21 May 11am – 5pm
Fri 22 May 11am – 5pm
Sat 23 May 11am – 4pm
Felled reimagines timber supply sources in contemporary woodworking practice. Six makers and designers with specialised knowledge of timber engage the material beyond newly processed, machined slabs and find possibilities in existing materials, including timber waste and plant debris, as furniture and object-design making material.
Approaches are holistic (‘from roots to leaves’) and minimise waste while maximising respect for timber as a once-living organism. Exhibitors question what is determined as ‘low-grade’ or ‘difficult’ timber and work with parts that are traditionally disregarded. From working with banksia pods and timber shavings to invasive trees destined for pulping, exhibitors reveal the beauty and possibilities in wood we are quick to overlook.
Felled joins the discussion on practices of consumption through the exploration of a single material — timber. It considers the environmental impacts of extractive processes and positions new systems of working with existing materials. The exhibition celebrates makers and their specialised practices as invaluable thinkers. It is through small-scale studio practices that deep connections to and empathy with a material spark innovation and new thinking.
Big ideas for a better future begin in the studio.
The exhibition forms part of Conscious Craft — a Craft Victoria initiative showcasing innovative creations by makers and designers who are actively considering sustainability and ethics in their production methods and use of materials.
The objective of the exhibition is to highlight how specialist craft practitioners — through their deep engagement with and understanding of materials – are placed to rethink materials, drive innovation and influence the broader industry for the better.
Exhibitors include Andy Ward, Bolaji Teniola, Craig Murphy Wandin, Jess Humpston, Kyoko Hashimoto x Guy Keulemans and Mark Lilly.
Conscious Craft is generously supported by the Amaeah Foundation.
Participants
Andy Ward
Andy Ward is a Naarm/Melbourne-based furniture designer, maker and craftsperson. He works primarily with timber, with a design approach rooted in minimalism. His works show an affinity for subtle sculptural details and material sensitivity.As a qualified specialist carpenter, Andy has extensive experience working alongside a broad range of design-allied disciplines and architecture and design studios. This experience underpins his creative practice and his expertise in structural design and materiality. His approach is intuitive and playful, while remaining deeply grounded in skilled methodologies and techniques.Andy has had a lifelong passion and connection with timber, stemming from his rural upbringing near the Grampians in western Victoria. In 2025, he curated the exhibition Goodbye London Plane, presented as part of Melbourne Design Week.
Bolaji Teniola
Bolaji Teniola is a multi-award-winning interdisciplinary designer practising in Tarntanya (Adelaide). With an Associate Degree in Furniture Design and a Bachelor of Industrial Design from RMIT University, Bolaji blends the knowledge gained from these disciplines to develop pieces that sit at the intersection of art, craft and design.Moved by intrigue and a fascination with materiality, stemming from experience gained working for design studios locally and abroad, he finds joy in allowing the process to unearth pragmatic solutions, channelling these results into exhibitions and commissions.Bolaji has exhibited works nationally and internationally, with his work held in private collections.
Craig Murphy Wandin
Craig Murphy Wandin (Wurundjeri Woiwurrung) is an artist, cultural designer and a horticultural consultant. In 2022 he founded MAN&GUM. He works with bush wood to create vessels, artefacts and contemporary sculptural pieces that combine ancient and modern techniques to tell the story of the Australian Landscape. Using gum and wattle sap resin, he accentuates the wood’s natural qualities, and is guided by the stories that naturally occur within the timber.In 2023 Craig was an exhibitor in the NGV exhibition, Vessels, presented as part of Melbourne Now and co-curated by Craft and NGV.
Jess Humpston
Jess Humpston is a Naarm/Melbourne-based designer-maker. A background in both fashion and interior design has given Jess a finely tuned understanding of the space a piece of furniture inhabits and a sensitivity to the interaction between person and object.Working predominantly in timber, Jess’s work balances traditional woodworking with architectural character, contrasting clean lines with the tactility of the handmade.Jess’s work is minimal, yet detail-focused, and her practice elevates everyday functional requirements with the unexpected.
Kyoko Hashimoto x Guy Keulemans
Guy Keulemans and Kyoko Hashimoto met in 2000 and have since developed their careers individually and together. Their work proposes ethical and aesthetic challenges to paradigms of material practice in art, craft, design and industry, with specific focus on supply chains and the regenerative capacities of local resources. They create objects that advocate for new forms of sensory and sustainable engagement with the world. Hashimoto and Keulemans have a love for historical and critical discourse and position their works as tools to open up discussion around materials that transition between the environment and the body.
Mark Lilly
Mark Lilly is a self-taught designer/maker living in Perth, WA. Although he has been making furniture for over a decade, it took a move from London to Perth in 2018 for him to settle into his design sensibilities, and soon after, Manner was created to showcase his creative aspirations.The name Manner was chosen to reflect Mark Lilly’s approach to design, as for him, design is less about what is done and more about how it is done and the manner in which it takes shape.