A Table for Eating Soup with My Grandmother Again
The concept for this table came from a yearning to eat soup with my late grandmother again. I find soup to be very healing, and towards the end of her life, that's pretty much all she could eat. Building this brought me more joy and solace than I could have imagined.
I was fortunate enough to source this lumber from a good friend I made while at Penland. Building relationships with material is extremely important to me, especially with something as precious as wood. The wormy poplar boards had previously been used in a temporary hay barn that had stood for about 3 years before needing to be disassembled.
I made this body of work while at Penland in October/November 2021. This was a culmination of a concept I had been nurturing for many years. I wanted to host a meal where I made everything. The table, the bowls, the cups, the chopsticks, the food. I was finally able to realize that concept. I served miso soup made with a black miso that I had been fermenting for a year with two types of kimchi. We ate out of salt-fired bowls and trays that I had made that session, with chopsticks I made that day. It was a beautiful happening that filled me with such joy. I would love to explore this concept further.