Mirror, 2022

Kevin Gauld was born in Kirkwall in Orkney.  He creates beautiful hand-crafted furniture ranging from the traditional Orkney Chair to more contemporary design led individual pieces.  Kevin recently made The Gallery a mirror in elm and teak which brings out the natural quality of the wood whilst simultaneously echoing the Orcadian landscape.

‘Most of the furniture made by Orcadian crofters for their crofts was made from reclaimed wood or found wood (often driftwood). The mirror that I have made is based on this theme as it is created from pieces of wood that might be overlooked by many as a piece that would be suitable for nothing more than firewood. It is made from a branch of an elm tree that blew over in a storm in 2015 in ‘The Willows’; a small, wooded area in Kirkwall, where the Willow Burn (stream) runs. The two parts of the branch are held together by four butterfly joints. These are made from teak which came from a ship called ‘Tennessee’ which ran aground on Orkney on the 25th May 1940 after colliding with another vessel. The ‘Tennessee’ had a cargo of teak on board which was salvaged by locals after the ship was declared a total loss after crews were unable to re-float her.’ – Kevin Gauld