I have started work on two new versions of my Mirror With Drawers series. I thought I would take a moment to examine where I have been as part of my process of determining how to evolve the series. The exploration was born while I was co-teaching the fall concentration at the Penland craft school in North Carolina with sculptor Joël Urruty. We brought furniture designer Peter Harrison down to give the students a different perspective on technique and creativity. Pete fabricated a small box out of Baltic Birch plywood during a demonstration to the class. The box was kicking around the shop until I took it and incorporated it into the first mirror with drawer.

I wrapped the box in Bubinga veneer after cutting the end of the box to give it an unusual angle more in keeping with my design sense. The rest of the piece is made of cherry and ash. the two woods highlight the shifting overlap that is characteristic of my work. The ends of the cherry boards end in decorative dovetails. This treatment of dovetails is quite unique and becomes a central part of the composition. Another version of unusual dovetails appear on the sculpted drawer front.

A few years ago I revisited the format with a slightly different approach. The first piece gained a lot of attention with the drawer being at the core of the experience. I have always liked to overlap parts so it seemed natural to introduce a second drawer. This time I used a single color of wood for the shifting frame. This field of dark, oxidized, sapele set up a perfect contrast with the yellow shimmer of the avodire veneer of the drawer boxes. The drawers became even more interactive as they open in radically different directions.

Mirror With Two Drawers
Sapele, Avodire and Mirror 72″H x 15″W x 15″D

View Piece. Mirror with Two Drawers

By Nico Yektai -
New York based designer/maker Nico Yektai opened the doors to his Hamptons studio in 1995 after completing the MFA program at the School For American Craft at the Rochester Institute of Technology. The rigorous technical training complimented his background in Art History, which he studied, at Hobart College in Geneva NY. Yektai has synthesized this background into a singular style that has gained him national attention. Visit nicoyektai.com for more information