Mattias Selldén crafts atypical sculptural furniture that wait to break into movement

Art, craft, design: the creative processes following these disciplines often become coveted escapes from a matrix of rigid pragmatism and calculation. They allow for fluidity in thoughts and actions—one may move backwards, forward, or even take an entire detour—until the creators come face to face with the physical translation of their expression. The objects that originate from such an approach are defined not by their dimensions, materials or precision, but by the sheer intuition that sculpts them; despite the esoteric nature of what is born, it remains more human in spirit. Can instinct guide the making of entities that serve abstraction and function in tandem?

Mattias Selldén is a Stockholm-based artist and designer whose practice resides at the intersection of art, craft and design. Exploring the unlabeled spaces between these conventional categories, the Swedish artist’s works are primarily manifested in wood, and are materially-led, technique-driven and sculpted by hand. His oeuvre (according to him), albeit enrobed in a rather abstract character, is “not very conceptual at all, and to a very high degree, practical,” he says. With tools, lumber and paint within arm’s reach, Selldén thinks with his hands, breathing life into colourful furniture designs and sculptures. “Improvisation or intuition has become key in my process while seeking a dissonance between traditional methods and contemporary expressions, and connecting the past with the present, perhaps into a speculative future,” the product designer adds.

Born in Uppsala, Sweden, Selldén received his B.A. in design, and later on, his M.A. in design at Konstfack, University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm. Very practical in his process, he gravitated towards more natural shapes; but as his process evolved, he realised that staying true to his idea was as important as staying true to the material and craftsmanship. The furniture designer works with different kinds of wood, each embodying different qualities that cater to different purposes and use different kinds of surface treatments. Establishing his practice in Stockholm, Selldén has presented his sculptural designs in several design exhibitions, and continues to spend time in his studio, expanding his vocabulary while readjusting life to parenthood.

“One thing that interests me at the moment is when my body meets the material, the wood, mediated by tools, I am connected to thousands of years of human history and culture. The human body and the tree with its branches have been reasonably unchanged over the centuries; and no matter where this body would have dwelled and what type of tree that grew there, the similarities are apparent while the differences are few,” the sculptor shares. The techniques of working the lumber have remained largely similar for ages—sawing, cutting, chopping and filing. As the knowledge trickled down from one generation to the next, these techniques have been refined, but the simple tools are unchanged as have the fibres, movement and agency of the wood, intact. “So in some sense, every stroke of the saw and every cut with the blade opens a portal that bridges time and space. I am fascinated by the marks and dents left as traces of work. Sanding it all into oblivion does not make any sense to me at the moment, though such things have a tendency to change,” Selldén remarks.

The sculptural artist's hands-on process culminates in birch being intuitively assembled into compositions that preserve the planks’ natural topology and features, each component secured using simple joinery. He splashes the compositions with variously opaque or transparent paints, exploring what feels right intuitively—the resultant silhouettes infused with Selldén’s humanising sensibility. The Swedish designer's latest endeavours include chair designs such as the 'Sunset Giraffe,' dressed in hues of dusk; the rather simple frame of 'Örat'; as well as the 'Green Chair' featuring a criss-cross of chunky wooden elements. Within sculptures such as 'PET' and 'Reclining Figure,' the instinctive addition, subtraction and inclination of volumes result in examples of sculptural art, and surprises the longer one looks at it. Straddling a sculpture and a console, 'Maybe you can use it for your Stereo' encompasses spaces to place objects interspersed between organic wooden pieces. A variety of materials including wood, varnish, linseed oil, vax, artist’s paint, pigment and glue constitute his product designs.

What binds Selldén's body of work together, is an element of life within every piece—they seem as though mid-move, with slayed arms and legs, invitingly leaning forward, waiting to break into a dance, or casually walking away at a moment's notice. The raw, unfiltered minimalism of the alien creatures is complemented by a colour palette that demands attention. The wooden furniture and sculptures propose a refreshing (re)definition of functionality that defies the linearity and conventional aesthetics and approach to design. Talking about where his artistic endeavour is headed, Selldén shares, “I am not sure what it is or what it can become yet. Is it alien or familiar? Ancient or futuristic? Architectural or anthropomorphic? Sacred or profane? Vernacular or international? Some of it or all of it? Hopefully, I will never know. It gives me a reason to continue, carving my way to illumination, one wood chip at a time.”