Richard Prisco - Furniture Designer


Structure possesses an aesthetic all its own, unadulterated and unassuming. Tension, compression, shear, and torsion are within the fabric of all structures. My work explores these forces and investigates their potential for expression. Civil and mechanical structures provide influence and inspiration. In addition to wood and traditional joinery techniques much of my work incorporates machined metal components, concrete and stone. The connection, transition, and interaction of one material to the next is fundamental to the development of this aesthetic. The resulting forms express the sensation of transformation, movement, and balance.

While function has always been important in my work I have always felt it was secondary to form and materials. Shifting to a non-functional approach seems a natural transition to a new body of work. My newest work explores the aesthetic of monumental structure. With a monument the foundation is of great structural significance; how it stands, is connected to the earth, and how the viewer perceives its sense of permanence. The translation of the monumental as an aesthetic need not be that of great physical weight but rather importing a sense of significance and reverence. With this newest exploration I have added cast glass as a material. A departure from the controlled and exacting language of joinery and finely machined components, the nature of casting glass supports the concept of the monumental in the intensity of the process and the uncertainty of outcome.