Here, we ask designers to take a selfie and give us an inside look at their life.
Age: 39
Occupation: Designer
Instagram: @simonjohnsdesign
Hometown: North-Hatley, Quebec
Studio location: East-Bolton, Quebec
Describe what you make: I make one-off and limited-edition pieces of sculptural furniture and lighting. My work is a product of observing and living with natural raw shapes in the wild. I guess that sounds weird without context—I live and work on a wooded lot along the Missisquoi River in mountainous southern Quebec. I’m just trying to make functional work that directly references our natural resources in their elemental state. I use wood, stone, metals, and mirror as vocabulary, and play with their capabilities in mimicry, sometimes having the materials reference or reflect each other in (hopefully) poetic compositions.
The most important thing you’ve designed to date: The Missisquoi 01 coffee table, a two-part coffee table partially held up with a large stone pulled from the river. It was the first piece I made that referenced where I lived, and it opened a whole new direction to me that I felt could be my own.
Describe the problem your work solves: I think my work disrupts an interior in a good way if it can create a fraction of the feeling you get when you go outside and see something beautiful. I design pieces hoping that something about them is random, natural, or uncontrolled, giving each piece a one-of-a-kind aspect. Whether clients order to specific dimensions or not, they get a truly unique piece, and I hope that solves something for someone.
Describe the project you are working on now: I’m working on a commission for large-scale wall panels based on my Shale Credenza’s textured facade. It’s going to be massive, and the first time I use this texture at this scale. Hopefully not the last!
A new or forthcoming project we should know about: I will be launching a new chair during NYCxDESIGN at a great outdoor show that I’m told to stay vague about. It’s called INSIDE/OUT, so I’ll leave it at that! I will also have new works at WantedDesign Manhattan with a contingent of Quebec-based design studios.
What you absolutely must have in your studio: My closest collaborator Marc-Antoine Dorval, the hard-working and talented craftsman and ceramist who makes things materialize, and helps me untangle whatever’s going on in my head. Also, and to a similar degree, my espresso machine and loads of music.
What you do when you’re not working: I just started a noise rock band to help me get away from work.
Sources of creative envy: Martin Puryear, Betty Goodwin (Montreal), Richard Serra, my uncle Don Goddard (potter), and brother Marc Johns (artist).
The distraction you want to eliminate: American politics.
Concrete or marble? Stone of random unprivileged origin if available, otherwise marble.
High-rise or townhouse? Townhouse.
Remember or forget? As much as I’d like to say forget, I must say remember, and move on, knowing.
Aliens or ghosts? Ghosts, if I have to.
Dark or light? Both always, in equal parts.
