Designer and artist Ed Cruikshank isn’t just creating furniture in his Queenstown Basin studio, he’s also making memories.
For Ed Cruikshank, furniture is all about connections. There are connection points, for instance, in the dovetail joints in the Queenstown designer’s walnut bar stools, where two pieces of timber intertwine in a beautiful seamless union. But equally as important as the craftsmanship is the conversation and memories made by the people sitting on the chairs, coming together over a meal or a cup of tea.
Furniture designer Ed Cruikshank has lived in Queenstown for more than 20 years.
“The reason I’m passionate about my work is furniture is about getting people together. Whether that’s sitting in a couple of beautiful club chairs, enjoying a drink in front of the fire, or a family sitting around a dining table,” says Ed.
“Furniture connects people to the earth and each other.”
He has been creating conversation-starting furniture pieces through his business Cruikshank Furniture since 2002. Before a love of skiing prompted Ed and his wife Tonya to move to the Queenstown Basin more than 20 years ago, he started his career as a fine-cabinet maker in the UK. He then studied industrial design before landing a dream gig at British furniture and design company LINLEY, founded by King Charles’ cousin, the second Earl of Snowdon David Linley.
The Dovetail Bar Stool showcases Ed’s craftsmanship.
At LINLEY, Ed designed and project-managed the creation of pieces for a who’s who of nobility and celebrity but since moving to New Zealand, many of his furniture designs have taken on a sleek modernist style. They all show traces of his time at LINLEY, however.
“I aim to design things that I hope will be enjoyed by people for a long time. I’ve learnt through my work and historical research that the furniture that stands the test of time — whether from the 1700s or a mid-century design — is often beautifully made and has classical proportions. This kind of timeless craftsmanship is what I’m striving for.”
The Elvie Club Chair is a popular design.
Many of his pieces are bespoke one-off commissions, but Ed’s Iconic Collection is a range of ready-to-order furniture from his most popular designs, such as the Elvie Club Chair, a modern take on art deco style. While historical references are prevalent in his work, some of his designs are inspired by the snowy climate of his new home in Central Otago. One is the Koru Chair, a half-chaise lined with possum fur that wraps its owner in a cosy embrace.
“The idea came from holidaying with friends in a very cold cottage. We were chatting over a drink, and our friends’ little girl walked into the centre of the room, wrapped herself up in a possum-fur blanket and fell asleep in front of the fire.”
The Koru Chair from the Iconic Collection is wrapped in possum fur.
Braille inscriptions are a signature of Ed’s work, with messages often piercing parts of the piece. He once engraved a client’s favourite poem in braille on a steel desk. Meaningful touches like these make his furniture both functional and artistic. Ed has recently made the leap into the art world with a series of framed artworks marked with braille.
“It’s funny, a lot of people tell me that my furniture is art, but as soon as something is hung on the wall, there’s no question, people immediately accept it as art,” says Ed.
“My art is about getting people to be more inquisitive and to make more efforts to connect with others. A blind person couldn’t read this braille because it’s flat and in a different scale to conventional braille, and the idea is to get people to work harder to seek out the meaning and to connect and communicate with one another.” When choosing furniture or art for a renovated or new-build home, Ed says to consider what’s meaningful to you and your family early in the building process.
Ed’s braille artwork Beginning invites viewers to seek out further meaning.
“The earlier you can think about furniture or interior design, the more likely you’ll create a home that feels authentic and appropriate. I think the best result is when you start from the inside of the home and work outwards instead of designing a shell of a house and then filling it with things.
“My work is about creating pieces that matter to you and are comfortable for how you live — because furniture is something you will touch and feel every day.”
