Here, we ask designers to take a selfie and give us an inside look at their life.
Age: 63
Occupation: Artist, designer, and maker.
Instagram: @neal.aronowitz
Hometown: Born and raised in Brooklyn… before it was cool.
Studio location: Portland, OR.
Describe what you make: I aim to explore and express powerful, graceful, and dynamic forms and forces through sculptural furniture and lighting.
The most important thing you’ve designed to date: With the Concrete Canvas Collection I became known as the only designer working with this innovative material. I’ve been told that it’s a unique contribution to design. The Whorl Console in particular has won numerous awards, has inspired a new documentary film, and has opened many doors for me, most meaningfully getting to meet and spend time with my design hero, Ingo Maurer.
Describe the problem your work solves: I am completely and totally absorbed in and inspired by creating this work. We all have a very deep need for a sense of awe and I hope the inspiration that I’m feeling is communicated to others through the work.
Describe the project you are working on now: I am completing a piece for my favorite Oscar-winning actress. Do I ask for permission to mention her name or forgiveness for mentioning her name? Anyway, I’m starting a new Boro Boro Chandelier commission and experimenting with EPS foam prototypes.
A new or forthcoming project we should know about: The docufilm of the making of the Whorl Console. “How to Bend Concrete in 108 Easy Steps” is winning awards on the film festival circuit and will be released in early 2020. New Concrete Canvas pieces are being shown in spring 2020 and a new collection of tables in March are in the works.
What you absolutely must have in your studio: YouTube, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and my WorkTunes Hearing Protection Bluetooth headphones.
What you do when you’re not working: I hike the peaceful Oregon forests and visit with family and friends. I am a long-time practitioner, student, and now teacher of Vedanta, an Indian spiritual philosophy and spend a lot of time reading, studying, and meditating.
Sources of creative envy: Ingo Maurer, Ron Arad, Zaha Hadid, Constantin Brancusi, and James Cameron. I am getting increasingly blown away by Studio Drift.
The distraction you want to eliminate: Fear, doubt, and worry.
Concrete or marble? Highly polished concrete.
High-rise or townhouse? Townhouse.
Remember or forget? My favorite poet writes “Don’t forget to remember.”
Aliens or ghosts? I’ll take a friendly alien every time.
Dark or light? Light, light! There’s got to be an invisible sun…
