In the hands of Swedish designer Carl Martinson, the centuries-old inlay technique of wood intarsia is made modern with compositions that are representational — quiet domestic scenes or landscapes — abstract, or somewhere in between. What runs throughout Martinson’s kitchen cupboards, cabinets, tables, wall works, and sculptural pieces is the soothing palette of wood tones and a material richness and warmth. Originally from Ekerö, “a not-so-much-an-island an hour west of Stockholm,” Martinson moved to Gothenburg in his twenties. He was studying literature when it struck him that he was more interested in the way the text looked on the page than what it said. To learn more about typography, he applied to the school of Craft and Design ­— “I think I got in with a whole lot of luck” ­— and after initially focusing on graphic design, he ended up gravitating toward spatial design. “It was when I realized that I didn’t want to spend all my time in front of a computer I started spending time in the wood workshop. I’ve been working with wood in different ways throughout my life, so it wasn’t new to me, but it gave me a chance to develop my skills.” An internship with artist and designer Fredrik Paulsen followed and Martinson felt he’d found a place in furniture making. This fall, he’s going back to school, to pursue a Masters in spatial design at Konstfack in Stockholm. While we can’t wait to see where his studies take him, we’re already so impressed and wanted to know more. 

How and when did you start doing intarsia with wood? 

I kind of stumbled upon intarsia around a year and a half ago when I was working on a project making furniture for a film production office. They had bought this ugly dart cabinet that we all tried to have them not put up. But in the end, they were more stubborn than we were. So instead of hiding it, we decided to do something nice with it. The people I worked with also work with furniture restoration and had a bunch of old veneer laying around that I could use. After I made the first set of doors I was hooked.

I have many times fallen in love with a new technique or a new material, but it usually ends after a month or two. I have only worked with intarsia for a bit more than one and a half years but it’s by far the longest I’ve stayed with the same method, and I’m still really excited to see how the next piece turns out. I think the reason for this is that intarsia as a technique really suits me and the way I think and work with images. Also, the positive response I’ve received has also kept me motivated to explore it more.

Do you have a background in drawing or painting or image making? I love the way your work combines the sculptural with the figurative or representational, how kitchen cabinets look like a mural or tapestry but in the form of furniture. 

Not really. I have done some painting and had a period during my studies when I painted quite a lot but mostly experimented with colors. I also made some furniture that I painted in abstract patterns during that time, so it’s not my first time combining images with furniture.

I really feel that the expression you can get using wooden veneer instead of paint and brush fits my formspråk [artistic idiom] well and having the image made out of wood makes the step in to turning it into furniture not that big.

I wanted to ask you about your approach to material. Which kinds of wood do you use and why? 

When I started doing intarsia I just used what I could get my hands on. I was so curious about what I could make. But lately I have decreased the amount of veneer types and I’m focusing on using wood from trees that can be found in Sweden.

I see my stack of veneer as my palette of paint. And I’m quite fine with not having too many colors in it. A lot of my recent works are just ash, oak, and walnut. I think having fewer options gives me more freedom. And there is also so much diversity in the veneer, even from the same tree.

With that said, I’m always looking for extraordinary pieces, and right now I’m really into walnut burl.

What’s your process like? Do you start with an image and then figure out which woods to use or does the material determine where you go in terms of imagery? 

I usually work in two different ways. One where I know what I want to make and one where I don’t. When I need to know what I’m making is often when I make something big or something for a specific customer. In those cases, I make fairly detailed sketches both by hand and digitally before I make the real piece.

When I don’t know beforehand what I’m making, I usually start by going through my piles of veneer, where I have both big sheets and small offcuts from previous projects. I try to find something that speaks to me and that becomes the start of a new project.

What’s been inspiring your work lately?

I get some inspiration from the music I listen to and things I see in my daily life. But I think my main inspiration comes from the wood itself. It’s so rich in color variation and structure that it makes my job fairly easy.

What’s next? Or what do you hope is next? 

I finished my first public commission at the end of the summer, a ballot box for the regional council of Västra Götalandsregionen. I really enjoyed working on the project and hope to have the opportunity to make more public commissions in the future.

I’m also just starting a collaboration with Matthew Holleman and Ovature Studios [a handmade lighting company] and I’m really keen to see what that will result in.