Oli Juliusson, from Hafnarfjardur in Iceland, has become a furniture designer whose pieces conjure the spirit of the sea.
It reflects his past as a trawlerman, and his design approach to honour the lives of Icelandic fishermen.
It’s an approach that links his past to the present, with design flourishes that make his furniture original and unique.
His previous piece was an exceptionally beautiful olive ash table, which he named the Dolphin.
That’s also the name of the fishing vessel he sailed on.
The table’s legs depict the architecture of the ship’s gallows.
That’s the arched structure at the rear of the ship (pictured above) that are used to set and winch in the fishing nets.
Oli has now completed a chair that allows you to sit in the crest of a wave.
It’s upper section, formed from fourteen pieces of steam-bent olive ash, sit on oak legs.
They form a sinuous shape that is both tactile and beguiling…and also surprisingly comfortable!
He’s also made an oak music sideboard called 8 degrees, because that’s the angle of its sides and legs.
Creatively, he’s also completed an olive ash table, with complex steam bent features. They’re held together with a steel link from an anchor.
Oli’s approach to furniture design is a compelling one, linking his pieces to a seafaring tradition and a buying audience.
It’s also his way of making his furniture designs unique to him, and retelling a little of his own past in everything he does.
Oli is now returning to Iceland to combine a life at sea with a parallel career as a furniture designer on dry land.
