Trey Jones
CODEBREAKERS
© Trey Jones.
A decade into his career, Trey Jones looked to define his point of view through sculptural furniture. His “aha!” moment came when he decided to reduce waste in his practice by addressing the overwhelming amount of plywood scraps in his studio. Based on the Japanese tradition of nerikomi—the stacking of colored porcelain to make canes that, when sliced through, reveal a pattern—he developed his signature “wood nerikomi.” With this modified stacked lamination technique, Jones embraces the inherent qualities of salvaged plywood, breaking free from his minimalist modernist furniture design training to create complex and dynamic veneers for his sculptural furniture.
Jones’s process is technically comparable to Wendell Castle’s “stack lamination.” However, unlike Castle’s work, whose seamless surfaces deliberately obscure the clever and resourceful lamination technique, Jones celebrates the wild patterns found within the stacks. Adept at playing with color, he combines the regularity of patterns with organic sculptural forms to balance creative expression and utility. He not only puzzles together the surfaces of his furniture but designs modular components that allow for interaction, movement, and the reconfiguration of pieces to provide different functions.
B. 1984, Lexington, KY
Lives and works in Washington, DC
DR111
Trey Jones, Dresser, 2024, Plywood, solid wood, aluminum, dyes, and sealer. Courtesy of the artist and Culture Object.