Wellington artist revives marquetry
The ancient art of marquetry is the subject of a new exhibition in Porirua.
Rauemi Taiao/Material Nature by Wellington artist and teacher Katy Cottrell runs at Pa¯ taka Art + Museum to June 20 and features 30 works by Cottrell which reveal the intricate craftsmanship of the art form.
In marquetry, pieces of veneer are applied to structures to make decorative designs.
Cottrell first started dabbling in the art form four years ago, during her master’s degree in fine arts with design, which she completed at Massey University.
Now embarking on her doctorate, which has a specific focus on people being guardians of materials, Cottrell said marquetry fitted perfectly into her studies, as the art form can involve items of furniture being re-purposed or re-thought.
‘‘It’s like a hobby to me,’’ Cottrell, who is also a full-time woodwork teacher, said.
The exhibition features about two years’ worth of work. Some was featured as part of her master’s exhibition at Massey’s
Exposure in 2019, but the majority are new. She’s also exhibited at Toi Po¯ neke.
Cottrell said the idea was to get people to re-think and reconnect with items of preloved furniture. In addition to tables and chairs, Cottrell has put marquetry on stools, plant stands and floorboards.
Most pieces within the exhibition are also handembroidered.
Cottrell said she wanted viewers to consider their connection to natural resources, particularly wood, and hoped to foster an appreciation among audiences for quality furniture. She also wants to draw awareness to declining timber
species. She sourced all the pieces within the exhibition from the landfill, second-hand stores and skip bins.
One piece Cottrell found on her way home from work was ‘‘literally about to go into the tip’’.
Over her seven years of teaching, Cottrell said the cost of and the sourcing of quality materials had become ‘‘ridiculous’’.
There was also a decline in the availability of once-common New Zealand timbers.
Her marquetry skills are largely self-taught.
Cottrell usually draws her designs first in Adobe Illustrator, before laser cutting them and inlaying them into the furniture.
Then there’s the process of sanding, oiling and shellacking. It’s time-consuming: an oak table and chair set took her more than a year to finish, while smaller pieces Cottrell can usually finish in a few months .
She occasionally cuts pieces by hand, a more traditional marquetry method.
For Cottrell, who is part of the international Marquetry Society and in 2015 founded a social enterprise with the aim of diverting construction waste, the art form is all about having a sense of pride in re-purposing.
‘‘I want people to reconnect with items they may have grown up with in the past, and think about what happens to them if they do get rid of them.
‘‘It’s almost that ‘look again, re-think it’. It’s about a change in behaviour.’’