Excerpts from Portfolios #1, 2, 3, & 4

SCULPTURE, FURNISHINGS, & OBJECTS in Bronze, Wood, Steel, & Concrete

byDAVID ORTH

David Orth Orth Furniture & Sculpture 20817 Bunker Hill Road Marengo, IL 60152 815-943-4099 davidorth@OrthFurniture.com www.OrthFurniture.com

1

Aegean Table - #6902 Materials: Copperplate, Brassplate, or Steel

Size Shown: 48 diameter x 15H Functions: coffee table or, with minor adaptation, a dining table

The main figure of this coffee table suggests a broken bowl of great archeological age. Pieces are missing. There are cracks and eroded edges in the heavy, quarter-inch thick bowl.

A heavy glass top is supported a couple of inches above the bowl shape. The legs are blackened steel.

Other sizes, materials, & patinas available.

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Eclipse Table #7341 Materials: Bronze or Steel, & Sculpted Concrete

Typical Sizes: 60-SOW x 34-38H x 12-140 Function: console table or entryway table.

An enigmatic wedge or wheel of bronze or steel caught firmly in a stony base. This table has a strong, balanced presence -

earthy & mystical, industrial & tribal. The base is buff-tone, sculpted, waxed concrete with a smooth stony texture.

Custom sizes & colors available.

Options: incised ''raindrop" details in bronze & sculpted fissure in concrete base.

"Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down" #8109

Materials: Oxidized Steel Size: various

Sometimes I imagine a lone bristle cone pine showing the signs of its unimaginable age - almost as if it were a ghost tree or spirit of a tree. Such trees remind me of the human condi­tion - great beauty, great sorrow, both passing like a flower.

"Prairie Drifter I" #8118 Materials: Oxidized Steel Size: various

I live and work in a rural area with a lot of ancient Native American history and interesting animals. We often hear a haunting chorus of coyotes, and at dusk, looking up into the trees very carefully, we'll see the sil­houettes of deer. I will sometimes imagine figures drifting through the mist, too old perhaps to notice me, but somehow guarding the land. I call them the Prairie Drifters. They are upright, part animal, part human, and often have great horns or antlers .. They drift slowly and sometimes stand stock still, uncannily merging with the trees.

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Tempest Table #7356 Materials: Bronze or Steel

Size Shown: 45W/39H/15D

This lyrical console table has two level surfaces at different heights. Mass & fluidity. Movement captured in time. Custom sizes, materials, & patinas available.

Clapp Table #7441 Materials Shown: Bronze, Walnut, & Steel

Size Shown: 140W x 33H x 18W Functions: console or entryway table

This unusually large slab of walnut was something very primal and rare. Its sheer geometric expanse is expressed & softened with taut nautical curves. A contrasting bronze base, reflects & supports the top while establishing iits own commensurate force and point of view. Random, handcarved details

suggest abstracted raindrops, fingerprints, and other fractal patterns. Although this top was one-of-a-kind, other possibilities come to mind. Custom sizes, materials, & patinas available.

alternative patina

"Table of the Sun" - #7720 Materials: Bronze or steel

Size: to order Function: console or entryway table

A sprightly console table invoking Native American sun pictographs & solar coronas. Note the subUe asymmetries of the profile and the sculpted concavity of the face & back. Shown in the dark

classic bronze patina. An alternative look would be a light bronze finish as depicted in the detail.

Custom sizes, materials, and finishes available.

Altar of St. Francis Materials: Bronze or St,eel

Size: to order

The Sacred Tree An Interfaith Sculpture

Design #9038: Weathered, Distressed Steel, Gold Leaf, Handmade Paper.

Size various.

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The Tree is a universal symbol of the sacred or the Divine at work in the world. Among its many names are World or Cosmic Tree, Holy or Sacred Arbor, The Tree of Life, Yggdrasil, Sidrat al-Muntaha, Tree of the Sefirot, the Sodhi Tree, the Tree of Calvary, and the Axis

Mundi.

This sculpture was originally designed for a hospital's interfaith chapel. A weathered, golden tree is rooted into a heavy steel arc. A universal call to prayer is hand written on an antiqued panel. The appearance of floating is achieved by supporting the sculptur,e and the panel of text from behind the curtain. It could also be attached

directly to a wall.

In the sacred traditions a tree means variously Illumination, Enlightenment, The True Self, Redemption, Protection, Spiritual Life, Connection between Heaven and Earth, Origin, Strength, Bounty, Flourishing, Wisdom, Unity and Diversity, Time and Eternity, and

Transformation.

Carefully placed, "random" touches of removable I interchangeable

beadwork with lively, thought-provoking symbolism used

on altar, font, & lectern.

Chapel Furnishings for Seabury Western Theological Seminary Materials: handwrought bronze, slumped glass, & removable world beadwork

Seabury, a prominent Episcopal seminary, needed a fresh visual approach for their new space & chapel. Our wish was to design something both modern & ancient, substantial yet resilient, contemplative yet lively & moving. We decided early on in our process that an abstract theme of simple, organic, & slightly asymmetrical Tree of Life forms might carry all these themes in a kind of deep balance. Random touches of removable or interchangeable beadwork from around the world (including several primitive Coptic crosses, references to the animal, plant, & mineral world, and a few other little surprises) enlivens the mood, embraces the whole world, & carries many layers of thought-provoking theological

symbolism. Installed Easter 2012

Liturgical banner by David Orth added digitally to image.

"Wonders of the Deep" #8110

Materials: Oxidized Steel & Sculpted Concrete Size: various

A simple two dimensional concept for heavy metal plate.

Curiosity Cabinet - #7308 Materials Shown: Cherry with Copper drawers & Brass pulls

Size Shown: 61W x 40H x 18D

A cabinet for the collector inspired by 19th Century paleontological displays and oddity

collections. All t rays are interchangeable and lined with crushed velvet. The top four

trays are visibly displayed under beveled glass.

Custom sizes, materials, and finishes available.

Riverside Coffee Table #7717 Materials top: Cherry & Steel shown Materials bottom: Walnut & stainless steel Size: various

Atlantis Chairs- #5809 Materials Shown: Cherry & Ribbed Upholstery Size Shown: 18W x 38x 21 .50

This chair was designed to go with the Atlantis Tables. It is the end result of many earlier experiments and versions. Comfortable, strong, and flowing.

Custom materials, and finishes available.

Pedestals #7109 A through H More details on next page.

Coffee Table - #5910 Materials Shown:

Blued steel & bleached oak. 46W x 15H x 300

Heavy steel plate. Folded & spiraled.

Oak beams with 3-way joinery.

Meteorite Table - #5912 Raw oxidized steel

Siz.e Shown: 48Diameter x 15H

Coffee table incorporating massive steel bowl. Dining table version available.

Custom sizes, materials, and finishes available.

"Top Down" #811 2

Materials: Oxidized Steel Size: various

Testimonials & Reviews

" ... an articulate, loving sense of craftsmanship drawn from the past ... sustained conceptually by ... humor and personal vision ... highly sensual ... finely tuned

... consistent ... truly 'art furniture."' - The New Art Examiner

"Orth's art is amazing ... overwhelming ... the primal versus the ethereal. Rock and roll...the blues ... arias." - James A. Mangum, author of the Dos Cruces

Trilogy

"fabulous ... mess-with-your-mind appeal" - Sandy Hill, Studio Hill Design, Albuquerque

"My clients are very impressed with the originality, timelessness and quality of David's art. His work is uniquely his own style and works so well in any environment. I am easily able to communicate with him as to my clients' needs and he never fai ls to deliver a design that is beautiful, appropriate, and on

time." - Lois B. Gries ASID, Past President, ASID Illinois

"Professionalism is the operative word in working with David Orth. His follow through and timeliness are admirable. As an interior designer, I appreciate the artistic integrity with which David adapts his

designs to specific sites." - Marilynn Davis, ASID - IIDA

Highland Park, IL

really occupies that space between 'what is furniture?' and 'what is art?' Really very, very

beautiful work." - Victoria Lautman reporting for Chicago Public Radio

"'Good work." - Walter A. Netsch, American architect

"Serious design." - Ruth Duckworth, American sculptor

"Holy Cow." - Kerry Aufderheide, Blue Table Studio, Denver

Orth Sculpture & Furniture DAVID ORTH designs and crafts useful human artifacts in his rural woodworking and metalworking studio just northwest of Chicago. His 30 years of critically acclaimed work is scattered across the country in public and private places. His design morphs freely into functional or sculptural projects - especially sculpture, furniture, liturgical art, & funerary urns. The work juxtaposes handcraft, industrial process, and exquisite materials - unfolding into a world of unusual beauty and intellectual challenge. (See also Postmodern, Postminimal, Steampunk, Prairie School, Midcentury Modern,

Multicultural, Studio Furniture.)

Your inquiry about stock or custom design is welcome.

more at

www.OrthSculpture.com

all designs, design elements, & images copyright 2013 David Orth