Egeværk (“oak-work” in Danish) was started in 2011 by Mette Bentzen and Lasse Kristensen. Partners in life as well as in their work, Egeværk came to fruition to become their shared ‘laboratory’, a space to experiment, research and develop new expressions and techniques for working with wood. Although their name has a bias towards their shared love of oak, which has immense historical connections to where they are based, they do work with a wide variety of woods.
Every Egeværk piece is created f...
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Egeværk (“oak-work” in Danish) was started in 2011 by Mette Bentzen and Lasse Kristensen. Partners in life as well as in their work, Egeværk came to fruition to become their shared ‘laboratory’, a space to experiment, research and develop new expressions and techniques for working with wood. Although their name has a bias towards their shared love of oak, which has immense historical connections to where they are based, they do work with a wide variety of woods.
Every Egeværk piece is created from many lengthy processes yet begins with an initial ”friendly quarrel” between Bentzen and Kristensen. Inspiration from nature is first translated through joint sketching. Initial ideas are developed further through exploring the unique beauty of a given piece of wood.
Bentzen is the primary decision-maker in the beginning of the tangible process of creating the piece. Extremely knowledgeable of the characteristics of different types of wood, Bentzen makes sure that the construction of the piece supports the creative vision intended for it. Every fibre of the wood is taken into consideration before a plank is cut into smaller pieces and then carefully assembled. Kristensen does most of the hand-shaping.
Even though the process progresses in a linear fashion from inspiration to sketching, construction to hand-shaping, both makers agree that the real magic does not happen if they do not allow the wood to help shape the finished piece, for it to have its own ‘voice’. They also agree that even though they sometimes amiably quarrel in the process, they always speak nicely to the wood.
Kristensen and Bentzen both trained at the esteemed PP Furniture; a Danish joinery - established in 1953 - which is famous for its large portfolio of modern Danish furniture. The years at PP Furniture made Bentzen and Kristensen true experts in the renowned ‘Wegner’ pieces. The certificates of completed apprenticeship were in both cases accompanied by silver medals (t
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