Courtesy of Salon 94 Design and Thomas Barger.
In the furniture of Thomas Barger, geography is sensibility. Originally from a religious family in rural Illinois and now based in New York City, he creates work that fuses those two places and their contrasting cultures. His iconography often alludes to the farmyard, in a gently humorous way; among his references are truck blankets, tractor tires, laundry baskets, and sticks of butter. He is unafraid of sentiment—what he calls “the love element”—to the point of punctuating a high-backed chair with a bunch of little cartoon hearts. Materially, too, there is a fragile intimacy in his work.
It is made primarily of painted paper pulp built over armatures, a technique that may call to mind childhood crafts at the kitchen table. Yet Barger also partakes of the sophistication and creative energy of the New York design scene. He has worked in the studio of sculptor Jessi Reaves and, like her, has an uncanny ability to infuse furniture forms with psychological ambience.
Gingham Joy Bench in wood, sawdust, paper, paint, and polyurethane. Designed and made by Thomas Barger, USA, 2020.
80” L x 21” W x 20” H
203.2cm L x 53.3cm W x 50.8cm H
CO799
Courtesy of Salon 94 Design