Open Parentheses

It’s been a little while, so here is an update for what should be coming from me in the near future.
-The winter was productive for setting up layouts for new paper art. Soon I’ll be looking at posting a couple variations of at least three new pieces plus I’ll be restocking my Etsy store since I’ve been sold out of all the old pieces since the art sale last year.
-Working on a new coffee table design for a friend I’m very excited about. Still in the prototyping stage, but here is a sneak peek at what i’m building towards

Hopefully i’ll have some more to show you all in the near future.
Until then
-Ian Nystrom

Only one night into the 2016 MCAd art sale and already several of my pieces have found good homes. I’m so happy that people have taken an interest in my work and wanted to leave a thank you message to anyone directed to this site from my art-sale tags-
So thank you, thank you very much!

and if you missed the sale don’t worry, selected pieces will still be available on  my Etsy Store which I will be continuing to update as pieces are completed and ready for sale again.

Until next time,
Ian Nystrom

I’ve whipped up a new batch of shelves for the 2016 MCAD Art Sale, and here they are!
The Orbit Shelves- Series I & II. Each set of shelves of shelves has a large version (3′-4′ in length) and a small version (~24″ in length).
Series I is a design I first debuted in my senior show back in 2012, and like my original senior show pieces these geometric shelves feature a ballast made of stack laminated OSB turned on the lathe.

Orbit Series I, large shetka

Orbit Series I, small wood.

Then we come to the new models, the Orbit Series II, which have turned hardwood ballasts.

Orbit Shelf series 2, large black

Orbit Series II, small black

Orbit Series II, small black front view

the black version of the series II contrasts the lighter turned maple with black dyed beech wood, with the edge left at the natural color to show off it’s stylish geometry.
Then I’ve flipped the color scheme for the second half of the Series IIs, dyeing the hardwood ballasts and leaving the shelves their natural color.

Orbit Series II, Large Natural

Orbit Series II, Large Natural – side angle

Orbit Series II, Small Natural – side angle

Last we come to my favorite of the new edition, a little orbit shelf made from a particularly spectacular bit of yellow heart.

Orbit Series II, Yellowheart – top, front

Orbit Series II, Yellowheart – front view

Orbit Series II, Yellowheart – side view

I fell in love with this little bit of lumber the minute I laid eyes on it in the cut off bin at my local woodworking store. Whereas somebody else must have seen it’s discoloration as a flaw I found it was the perfect character for one of my Orbit shelves.

Orbit Series II, Yellowheart- top down view

With a black dyed maple ballast for a bit of contrast to the vibrant color I’m really quite proud of how this one turned out.

Aside from the 7 new shelves I’ve also put together an assortment of laser-cut paper pieces, including an all new design incorporating some some additional painting.

‘Mountain Fog’ is a piece inspired largely by my visits to the Minneapolis Museum of Art’s extensive collection of Chinese and Japanese painted scrolls and ukiyo-e prints.
I wanted to try something a little different from my older paper-cuttings so for this piece I decided to incorporate some paint into the piece before its final assembly. I used black and white spray paint to create a faux mezzotint kind of texture as a bit of a reference back to print making techniques, along with a bit of watercolor for some added vibrancy.
It was nice to add in some of these painting techniques as it makes each of this series of paper-cuttings one of a kind.

I’ve submitted a total of 25 pieces to the Art Sale, which is at MCAD (details for which can be seen here) anything not sold during the sale will be available on Etsy in the near future.

thanks to anyone taking an interest in my work- I hope you like what you see!
Until next time-
Ian Nystrom

Announcing some new work on the site:

Comet shelf

The Comet shelf is a redesign of my older Orbit shelves, with the same angular paper stone  shelf but featuring a ballast made of laser cut acrylic.

Comet Shelf, detail. 2015

The second piece to highlight is the latest version of my corrugated plastic Corset Lamp.

Corset light, advanced base

The updated version of the Corset Lamp features a more complex base, as seen in this detail photo-

In addition to these two new pieces is a whole array of laser cut paper abstracts, like these three-

Fire flies 2

Branches

Droplets, Purple

All these and more will be available for sale during the MCAD Art Sale november 19, 2o, 21- More information on the art sale here. Or through me anytime thereafter.

Thanks for reading and supporting my work, until next time.
-Ian Nystrom

Hello all, just thought I’d make a very quick post on new work coming soon.
Work created for the 2012 MCAD art sale, the Corset Lamp, will be posted soon, along with updates to my resume.

Still doing independent contracting, looking for full time employment. Anyone visiting this site happen to be interesting in hiring? please contact me.

Completed my first private commission work, this rolling Oz prop house.

Commission- rolling Oz house set

Made of pink insulation foam the house stands 4ft high by 4ft wide, self-standing on caster wheels for mobility.

Commission- rolling Oz house set profile

Sorry the pictures are lousy, now that I’m out of school I don’t have the easy access to studio documentation sweeps and equipment. Plus I was was on a schedule so I didn’t have time for proper documentation.

This project will live on my ‘Sculpture’ page until I do enough commissions to create a separate ‘commissions’ page.

After a year away my table and plant stand, 2nd place winner of the MCAD/Shetka Stone competition, was finally returned home.

Meteorite Table & Comet Stand

The table tops of these two pieces are made from Shetka Stone, which is a product made from recycled paper. They were kind enough to donate a ton of this material to our school and sponsor a little design competition, in which I placed second. It is pretty cool stuff, you can learn more about it on their webpage, here: http://shetkastone.com/

Almost immediately I realized the thing I liked most about this product was the way the texture changes as you cut into it. To highlight this I used the CNC router to mill a circular depression into the center of the pieces.

Meteorite Table

This crater-like centerpiece is where the name for the Meteorite table is derived. Its companion piece, the Comet stand, which also has a milled depression, gets its name from the long tail that makes the base.

Comet plant-stand

With these two pieces back in my hands, all of my prodigal sons have returned home!
I’m so glad to have these up on the site now as they represent the start of this exploration into stratified materials and astronomical themes.

The Apollo Table is the centerpiece for my senior exhibition at MCAD-
made from ebonized ash wood, with a laminated plywood top.

Apollo Table

looking at the underside of the table you can see that the legs do not touch in the center, creating the X shaped opening in the top.

Apollo Table

Apollo Table

the four top panels are laminated in a Nevamar “White Essence” laminate- a nice cool white with flecks of grey. This contrasts the rich black of the ebonized ash wood quite nicely.

Apollo Table

The name of the “Apollo table” is derived from the Apollo space program. I chose a name as a continuation of the space-theme I’ve been using for much of my connected recent work (including the Orbit shelves and Meteorite table). The name is a reflection on the landing-craft look of the flaring tapered legs and the white top reminicent to me of the lunar surface.

Hi everyone,
It’s been a hectic end-of-the-semester as I’ve been preparing my senior show.
I can hardly believe I’ll be graduating from MCAD already.
And as the semester ends that means new work is going to be documented and uploaded to the site. Exciting huh?

In addition to new work, two pieces I completed in 2011 but never had a chance to be documented will be returning home after there extended vaction with the Shetka Stone company.

Meteorite Table & Comet Stand
2011

The Meteorite Table & Comet Stand were pivitol pieces in my furniture career, and they won me second place in the Shetka Stone competition here at MCAD. Before they were documented they went to the ICFF in chicago with the other student work from the competition and until just recently I had no good pictures at all of the work.
Soon though they will be home- just in time for documentation along with the other work I’ve made for my senior show.

So look forward to those updates coming soon!

-Ian Nystrom