Sho Ota

Crafting sensorial appeal in design

‘According to the Grain’ exhibition at KAZERNE & RE F O R M Design Biennale
Dutch Design Week 2021 | photo @_yutastudio

The desire to touch Sho Ota's pieces is inevitable from the stubs of tree trunks that jut up on the surface of his tables to the pink and brown ombré of his fir wood crafts. Each piece of furniture evokes an irresistible appeal, a connection so deep that it ties the origin of the wood and the designer's ethos.

Sho Ota's fascination with wood began with his experience designing and producing wooden furniture prototypes in his native Japan. When Sho came to study in the Netherlands at the renowned Eindhoven Design Academy, he maintained his passion for natural materials. The European country acts as the base of his design studio, a nook where he toys with his craftsmanship and his minimalist, contemporary style.

Each piece is handmade by Sho himself, the touch of his artistry permeating every design. "I wanted to show off the beauty of wood, which usually is hidden behind a flat surface. Usually, knots are treated as a defect by a carpenter and customer, but it also adds beauty and can remind us that the material is not industrial or how we usually perceive them in the manufacturing process. By accepting knots as a virtue, we can have a better relationship with objects and the material," Sho tells Plural Magazine.

In the series According to the grain, the designer creates unique pieces with volumes and textures carved out of the objects to expose the natural knots within a tree. The furniture pieces gradually unfold into their final form as Sho moves along the forms of the wood and the mindset of his creative process. Underneath the wood surface, the origins of the materials he employs snake through the furniture, a homage to the rawness Sho has embodied in his practice.

As he glides from one series to another, he birthed Surfaced, a set of wooden elements composed of different sections that are skilfully crafted, revealing voids and solids. In his other designs, he transgresses the function of wood forms. He stacks Jenga-sized wood blocks and pieces them into a bench that doubles as a coffee table. If not that, he inserts his pieced wood blocks into the crevices of a cut tree trunk to reform the natural form of its torso. The finished volumes reveal a look and feel of grandness in appearance as well as a sense of fragility infused in every facet of the construction.

Sho Ota's work has been critically recognized through design industry awards and featured in exhibitions such as the Dutch Design Week (2018, 2019, and 2021). Currently, his creations can be seen at Mia Karlova Galerie, Kazerne & RE F O R M Design Biennale, and DESIGNART TOKYO 2021.

“ACCORDING TO THE GRAIN” Bench no.4
2019

“I wanted to show off the beauty of wood, which usually is hidden behind a flat surface. Usually, knots are treated as a defect by a carpenter and customer, but it also adds beauty and can remind us that the material is not industrial or how we usually perceive them in the manufacturing process. By accepting knots as a virtue, we can have a better relationship with objects and the material.”

— Sho Ota