Curves and quirks are plenty as Valentin Loellmann shows off high-end furniture in Seoul

Valentin Loellmann's solo exhibition is currently being held at The Edit, a gallery for high-end furniture and interior items in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, through Oct. 11.

Exhibition view of Valentin Loellmann's solo exhibition at The Edit gallery in Gangnam District, southern Seoul [THE EDIT]

To Valentin Loellmann, the 41-year-old German furniture designer based in the Netherlands, the most important piece of furniture is the entryway bench. His reasoning is that it can have numerous functions. It can be a place to sit, put items on or simply to take a rest.

“It has a welcoming feeling,” he told the Korea JoongAng Daily in an interview earlier this month. “You can also play with it and put it in different setups of a living space.”

Valentin Loellmann [THE EDIT]

His solo exhibition is currently being held at The Edit, a gallery for high-end furniture and interior items in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, through Oct. 11.

Loellmann refuses to restrict himself to a single type of wooden furniture. It doesn’t matter if it takes him at least six months to create a single chair entirely by hand. His resume spans across tables, closets, stairways and even kitchen sinks, but the one thing that brings them together is the fact that they are oh, so round.

These organic curvy shapes represent the flow of energy that Loellmann attempts to capture in nature. But his creativity goes a step further as he incorporates other materials, like brass, steel, resin and marble, that typically would not be combined with charred oak or walnut wood.

It’s not an easy process, rather there are high risks that follow by taking this “atypical” road. But it’s trying to find a harmony between these dissonant materials that makes Loellmann strive to achieve a smoothness in his pieces that, when both seen and felt, is pure bliss.

Exhibition view of Valentin Loellmann's solo exhibition at The Edit gallery in Gangnam District, southern Seoul [THE EDIT]

This doesn’t necessarily mean that each and every furniture piece must turn out perfectly. He sometimes leaves the cracks that naturally form on his wooden tables or the tarnishes in his brass cabinets just the way they are. It’s a representation of wabi-sabi, a Japanese philosophy that centers on accepting transience and imperfection, that Loellmann says he highly resonates with.

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

A corner bench by Valentin Loellmann, made from charred oak and steel [THE EDIT]

Q. You’ve been open about never sketching beforehand. Why do you skip it?

A. I don’t understand why there needs to be a sketch. I’m just doing something of my own interest, motivation and inspiration. For me, this sets me free in my work because it’s intuitive. It’s very fluid and at the same time, a more complicated process where I need to find a balance between the boxes that are created in our society. I rather feel overwhelmed when I think about what I do, and when I get realistic. I tend not to take things nor myself too seriously. I have a childlike character in myself, in that I can start a huge project and not think about the consequences and the whole picture.

A coffee table by Valentin Loellmann, made from resin, copper and steel [THE EDIT]

What does a typical day look like for you? I hope I don’t have too many “typical days.” I don’t like routines. That’s why I chose to be an artist. So, I don’t really make plans. Of course, I go to my studio every day, but it’s a very vibrant place. I’m free to do whatever there, and I don’t have an agenda nor a personal assistant telling me what my schedule is for the day. I want to be careful not to become a product myself. I choose to live as securely as possible within my own surroundings. Everything is within a three-minute radius.

A credenza by Valentin Loellmann, made from charred oak and brass [THE EDIT]

What inspires you? Have you found inspirations here in Korea? I’ve always had the feeling that I was supposed to be born in this part of the world because I don’t feel as comfortable back where I am. Turns out that I actually was supposed to be born in Japan because my parents were on the edge of moving there. But I have been there several times during my childhood. There was a brief time when I wanted to move here and study, too. I’m inspired by the culture of how you treat things with a lot of respect and privacy and gentleness. I think for me, there’s a certain kindness in everything and movement and expression. It’s funny now because my work is here, not me, so it’s like a different version of me here.

A coffee table made by Valentin Loellmann, made from charred oak and steel [THE EDIT]

What would you define as the charm of your furniture? To me, my furniture is not just to decorate your home, but to collect and to create a personal relationship to it. It’s like an artist working with a painting. I’ve chosen to work in the form of furniture. There are certainly people who buy my furniture just as an interior object, but I think they realize with time that it’s not the typical furniture. The pieces represent me, but I think the pieces themselves represent balance or some personality, except the personality changes with whoever engages with them.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]