Joseph Keenan

Artist statement

Vertibral is a sculptural piece of furniture that can be articulated in a number of ways: into different seating configurations, as individual seats, or slotted together to form tables and stacked into shelving to meet the changing needs of a contemporary interior.

Made from Tasmanian oak and stainless steel, the frames seem to be suspended in air with intricate joinery details. Vertibral was designed to have a low impact on the environment and uses plantation timber, non-toxic finishes and reusable components.

Vertibral references the use of timber slats to filter light like the canopy of a rainforest, and the construction, which drew on techniques used in sixteenth-century Japanese carpentry, significantly affected the outcome of the design. It is Zen-inspired, immaculate and austere.