Artists: Wendell Castle - Egeværk

HB381 presents a collaborative exhibition and artist residency with the Wendell Castle Project, featuring Danish designers Mette Bentzen and Lasse Kristensen, founders of the design studio Egeværk.

Trained at the rigorous Danish joinery PP Møbler, Bentzen and Kristensen have been recognized internationally for their thoughtful contributions within contemporary Danish design and furniture making. Bentzen and Kristensen develop hand-carved furniture inspired by the natural forms and muted tones of the Scandinavian landscape. Many of their designs appear frozen in moments of flux, drift, and erosion, embracing the fluidity and incremental transformation of the tides, the strata of slow-melting ice made visible in a disintegrating glacier, the gradual buildup of lime deposits that form stalagmites, or the undulating motion of marine life. Their residency invites a critical exploration of the rich geographical and cultural connection between Scandinavia and the Great Lakes—the region where Castle lived and drew inspiration. Taking cue from their Scandinavian roots, Egeværk will look to their American counterpart to identify the qualities that inform their artistic practice: a reverence for transformed nature, an understanding of water’s ancient influence, and an appreciation of mystery and paradox within the sea. Through this exchange, they aim to advance an international dialogue within contemporary woodworking practices.

Both Bentzen and Kristensen have achieved the highest level of recognition within the Danish guild system and their studio has received numerous awards for excellence, including the Carpentry Prize (Kirsten and Freddy Johansens Foundation and the Copenhagen Carpenters' Guild), the Danish Design Award (Best in Arts & Crafts), and the Peter, Ingrid and Ralph Hernoe Honorary Grant. In addition, Kristensen was selected as the winner of the Danish and Nordic championships in cabinetmaking and has represented Denmark in the World Cup in Japan, for which he received the Mærsk Grant and the Poul & Gurli Madsen Grant. Egeværk’s works are in the collections of the Trapholt Museum, Imagine Museum, Lune Rouge Collection, and the collection of Thierry Barbier-Mueller.