Overview
Humphrey Ikin, like fellow New Zealand furniture designer David Trubridge, takes some of his inspiration from the customary designs of the wider Pacific region.
Red Stave Chair evokes the forms of traditional Japanese and Chinese furniture. It was also influenced by one of the earliest icons of European Modernist design, the groundbreaking Red and Blue Chair by architect Gerrit Thomas Rietveld. Both chairs have a simple structure and carefully jointed, interlocking planes. Both are also far cries from the cosy armchairs that many of us like to sink into. New York-based ID Magazine said of Ikin’s work, ‘His chairs may envisage leisure, but of an athletic variety.’
The combination of Pacific and modernist ideas that you see in Red Stave Chair is typical of Ikin’s work. Early on, he was influenced by Pacific artefacts he studied in the Auckland Museum, such as chiefs’ headrests. He also counts among his influences the Group Architects of the 1950s – a band of New Zealand architects and designers who set out to create and promote an all-embracing design style that would be fresh, modern, and uniquely suited to this country’s environment.
Ikin has been dubbed a ‘pioneer of the new Pacific minimalism’(1). In a 1994 promotional flier, he himself has said, ‘My approach tends to be architectural, in that I’ll always commence with the basic considerations of structure, alongside form and function. I utilise both construction and carving to this end, and prefer a minimal, often understated aesthetic, with hopefully a gentle affirmation of the work’s Pacific origins.’
Ikin studied architecture at Auckland University in the early 1980s, but found he was less interested in buildings than in the furniture they contained. He taught himself furniture design, and soon began creating his own innovative pieces.
In keeping with Modernist ideas, Ikin uses simple, familiar materials. Wood is his favourite. He says, ‘I have come to see the importance of wood from a cultural and artistic point of view. It has a strong history in New Zealand, and has been the principal means of expression here for a thousand years.’(2) He prefers to use timbers such as white ash, saying, ‘I like pale, almost inert timbers that don’t speak loudly but have a quiet integrity.’(4) For ethical reasons, he also favours plantation timbers, grown to be harvested.
As well as timber, he works with stainless steel, aluminum, and white zinc. He doesn’t like to combine too many materials in one piece.
Ikin has become one of New Zealand’s most respected designers. In 1998, a year after he made the Red Stave Chair, ID Magazine included him in its list of the world’s top 40 designers, alongside the likes of Philippe Starck (France), Alberto Alessi (Italy), and Rei Kawakubo (Japan). And in 2001, the Designers’ Institute of New Zealand acknowledged Ikin’s contribution to New Zealand design, by presenting him with the John Britten Design Award.
Although Ikin spends a lot of his time working on commissions, he makes sure he also has time to develop exhibition pieces free of commercial constraints.
You can see more of Ikin’s work at Wellington’s City Art Gallery, where he designed all the purpose-built furniture.
References
1. Western News (Auckland), 1 August 1997
2. Vogue Living, October/November 1994
3. Martin, Y. (1998) Designer sitting pretty on top of the world. The Dominion, 7 February.
Text originally published in Tai Awatea, Te Papa's onfloor multimedia database.