Veronika Wildgruber Makes Soft Wood…

I don’t like things that can be reproduced. Wood isn’t important in itself but rather in the fact that objects made in it are unique, simple, unpretentious. (George Baselitz)

If you are a regular reader of TSL, you’ll know I have a wee bit of a thing for trompe l’oeil. I first read about the extremely talented Veronika Wildgruber and her trompe l’oeil-esque ‘Soft Wood’ project at Anthony Robertson Design.

‘Soft Wood’ is a series of chairs (limited to 250) that appear at first to be made in fabric with the soft appearance of pillows. In reality they are sculpted in solid wood. Veronika says, “The chairs trick the mind because the surface and texture connotes the opposite of what we think and know about the characteristics of wood.”  She has created her ‘Soft Wood’ chairs to illustrate how wood can usually not be both soft and comfortable. The concept plays with reality and shows that you cannot always rely on your perception.

I think there’s a slightly retro-feel to these fabulous chairs…

I also like Veronika’s very German (in my opinion, at least) approach – her design aesthetic is both clean, practical and efficient; while at the same time a little idiosyncratic. That appeals to my German half!

Check out a couple of her other “simple and surprising” designs:

Veronika was born in Germany, and currently lives and works in Berlin. She studied product design at the Faculty of Design and Arts in Bolzano, Italy.  Her work has been exhibited in Milan, Paris, Berlin and London, and she was awarded with the Silmo d`Or in 2010 for her sunglasses VW02 design and the IF Product Design Award 2011 for her seriously cool ‘Wardrope’ design.

If you would like to see more of Veronika’s work, or sign up for her newsletter, you can do so here.