Chris Kamm

Artist's Statement I came to woodworking by a circuitous route. After customary academic experience, I found myself in the equally stressful and compensated aeries of banking and finance. But, a vacation in California turned into a change of my entire life.

I found a new job as an apprentice woodcrafter in 1982. Ten years later, circumstances led me to San Francisco. There I opened my own studio and ran through successive periods of kids' furniture, lawn furniture, faux-finish cases and café tables. All the while, I remembered my apprenticeship in marquetry and inlay techniques.

In 1995, I entered a box design contest. More memorable than my score was the fact that people bought them. I have learned that the surprise inside is just as important as the exterior. The outside should be simple and spare. The inside completes the expectation for what a box might be used. Since 1997, I have resided in western North Carolina and have devoted nearly all my studio time to boxes.

In this modern age, the warmth of polished wood offers relief from the digital, the virtual and the fleeting. I seek simple designs with dramatic materials and offer this box as a secret place for your treasures.

Arden, NC

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