Andrew Finnigan is a furniture maker and founder of Andrew Finnigan Works, a studio based in the Hudson Valley. Being interested in form and sculptures, Finnigan began his journey as an apprentice for a number of local furniture makers. After working as a craftsman for several years Finnigan gained enough skills to open his own studio and create his own line of furniture. Finding working in traditional parameters hard, Finnigan tries to push the boundaries with his work through form, material and function. Learn more about Andrew Finnigan and his work in this week’s Maker Monday.
The hand-painted Coil Stools come in both black and yellow, and a multitude of woods, such as maple, walnut and cherry.
Andrew Joseph: Describe your design style as if you were explaining it to someone who cannot see.
Andrew Finnigan: What I often try to do with my designs is to create something both familiar and subtly novel. I often incorporate hand-turned and carved offsets or hand-carved details into my designs to facilitate a sense of interest or a desire to further investigate. It’s my intention to not have these details be the first to be noticed within a piece, but to be discovered while exploring the piece. Beyond the discussion of design, my background in production leads to my interest within my work that everything is interesting to touch or feel, being well executed with crisp detail.
AJ: What is the last book you read?
AF: Chairmaker’s Notebook by Peter Galbert.
These Ebonized Walnut Pommel Tables play with shapes, as the squares slowly transform into hand-carved tubes.
AJ: If you weren’t a designer, you’d be a ….?
AF: If I weren’t in this line of work I’d want to spend my time outside. I’d probably pursue something like guiding hiking/climbing.
AJ: What’s inspiring you in life (in the industry) right now?
AF: I find the changing nature of how people are living very interesting. People have and are migrating from cities to the countryside. From a design perspective, it’s rather interesting to see the design solutions and styles used to solve any number of issues that come with such a move.
AJ: What about your design style has shifted post-quarantine?
AF: I’ve been far more interested in simple form, color, and texture. I think the pandemic helped to shake loose the sometimes prescribed black, white, brown, and gray aesthetic from my thinking.
The simple yet elegant Arnold Stool comes in a multitude of finishes, such as Bleached, Ebonized and Oxidized Grey.
AJ: What’s a new hobby/skill that you have learned recently?
AF: The most recent skill I’ve developed recently has been working with and wrapping shock cord. In developing the Coil Stool, I wanted to be able to “wrap” the stool in some way that was conducive to the round shape of the stool. It was a good experience in that it was wildly different from other mediums I’ve used.
AJ: What’s the weirdest thing a client has ever asked you?
AF: I’ve been asked to make custom kitchen stools with bullseyes painted on the seats. I think the customers were really into axe throwing.
About the Maker | Andrew Finnigan is a studio furniture maker living and working in the Hudson Valley. Andrew entered this field through the narrow lens of wood turning. He began with a singular focus on sculpture turnings, forms, and vessels. With time and exposure, his curiosity with furniture, its systems and techniques, began to grow. Andrew found that designing within practical parameters to be a very engaging challenge. Pursuing an education through the apprenticeship model, he began working for a number of local furniture makers trying to learn everything he could. The skill set, knowledge, and connections from those years allowed Andrew to fully immerse himself in this work and launch my own line of furniture. In Andrew’s work he draws from classical designs and shapes to inspire his own interpretations through a modern lens. Andrew’s work is designed to be both classic and subtly unique, combining function with aesthetics. As a maker, he employs traditional methods of construction to produce work that will withstand the test of time.
Like what you see? Get it first with a subscription to aspire design and home magazine.