Amelia Fagence crafts furniture and art with playful, yet enduring, appeal. You’ll find the Nelson-based maker’s work in homes and businesses the length of the country.

Tell us a little about your background and what led you to establishing your practice.

I grew up in a creative household with full-time artist parents and my love for making started early on. With materials on hand and skills shared by my parents, sculpting and painting were the first mediums I explored and exhibited. After completing a Masters of Architecture at RMIT University, Melbourne, I moved home to Aotearoa and felt a strong urge to get back into creating with my hands. I started using timber in interior design and fit-outs and crafting sculptural art pieces from wood. This year has been my first as a full-time maker after establishing my practice, Amelia Fagence Design. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, so it feels a real privilege to do it every day. I call myself a maker, which encompasses being a designer and a woodworker, as it allows me to take on a range of creative projects without being restricted to just one discipline.

The early stages of a sculptural piece

Is the role of ‘maker’ undergoing a renaissance?

Definitely. Quality craftsmanship and originality are becoming more valued and sought after, as we see a shift away from cheap and disposable design, for the sake of sustainability and longevity. It’s awesome to see people making more considered decisions when it comes to construction, homewares and other products.

How does your architectural background inform your design?

It has influenced the way I think and experience a space and the components within. When approached by an architect to design timber elements of a new project, or a store owner to redesign and fit-out their store, I ensure I understand what the client requires and what’s already happening within the space and design.

You work across residential, retail and hospitality. What new commissions are you currently working on?

Each commission presents different opportunities and challenges. One week I may be working on a single beautifully refined and detailed piece of furniture for a client’s home, and the next I may be working on a complete interior design or fit-out, where the interior design stages are developed down to the last detailing, inclusive of making the dining tables and chairs. I recently completed a solid macrocarpa bench seat for Public Record, a beautiful store in Auckland, where I also stock my smaller art pieces. The bench combines a sculptural carved form with traditional joinery, which looks amazing. I’m working on my newest collection of sculptural pieces, which will be showcased at The Refinery in Nelson from mid-January 2023.

Bench seat for Public Record.

You take a playful approach to your sculptural pieces. Tell us about the process of designing and making.

They have an interactive quality, encouraging playfulness through balancing, stacking and the option of continuous rearrangement. They begin as a simple sketch of lines and shapes, which I then develop into the three-dimensional world through forming and carving solid wood. I have also been developing furniture that encompasses a similar approach, with playful and movable components.

You work with reclaimed and sustainably sourced timber. How else do you apply sustainability to your work?

I’m always on the lookout for locally grown and naturally fallen timber. I love coming across beautiful pieces of storm-fallen macrocarpa or other trees that I cut up and dry. I attempt to leave the lightest footprint possible through sustainable material choices and processes and timeless design.

Walnut plinth bowls

What inspires you about living and working in Nelson?

I love meeting and connecting with other woodworkers, architects and designers – there’s a shared interest in wood and sustainability. It must be the lush streets and connectedness to the land that fuels sustainable design.

ameliafagence.com