Spotlight: Marquetry Fish

For this post on exhibitors in the Free Verse marquetry show at the Messler Gallery at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, I’m writing about two artists who made wonderful marquetry images of fish.

Paul Schürch is a woodworker based in Hawaii who frequently uses fish and other animals as inspiration for his inventive designs, which not only include furniture but wearable wood clothing as well. Paul’s Spiral Sushi Table is based on the myth of the ugly fish who created the world and shows a hungry fish chasing a pearl in a rippling whirlpool made of quilted maple. The marquetry is impressive enough, but the mechanics of the table are next level. When the tabletop spins, four hidden drawers unfurl from the sides. Here is a short video showing the table spinning open and how it is constructed.

Photo thanks to Michael Boyle

For his piece entitled Zeus, David J. Marks wanted to evoke the experience of being an explorer in Jules Verne’s Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and looking out of a submarine window at the marvels of the deep. The round wall panel shows a John Dory fish (Zeus faber) from New Zealand in astonishing detail, using a wide array of woods as well as brass, tagua nut (a.k.a. vegetable ivory), mother-of-pearl, and reconstituted stone. The background of the piece is made of quilted mahogany from an infamous tree, known simply as “The Tree,” that was cut in Belize in 1965.

Photo thanks to David J. Marks

Look at all those tiny little spines and fins on Zeus! If you’re thinking those are difficult to cut, you’re right!