It is my hope that the objects I make will instill a mix of emotions in people. Many of my most recent works contain elements of fear, safety, watchfulness, wonder, humor, and confusion simultaneously. My goal is that the objects themselves will offer the viewer an opportunity to rethink his or her own comfort zones and senses of place.

Mattia teaches at Rhode Island School of Design and has received fellowships from Massachusetts Artists Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. The members of Smokestack Studios are listed at the People and Places.

A Group Exhibition of Collaboration and Innovation. On view until April 14. NEIGHBORS explores the people, history, and traditions of crafts from the U. and Mexico, noting how aesthetics cross over and back again in a living and ongoing cultural exchange. Featured artists include ceramic artist Gerardo Monterrubio; ceramic artists Magdalena Pedro.

I make fine wood furniture and teach small classes in fine woodworking techniques in the tradition of my teacher and mentor, the late James Krenov. As part of my work and interest in traditional woodworking, I enjoy restoring and using older woodworking machinery and hand tools. Or by phone at 602-308-9188.

As an artist and furniture maker I create objects with subtle features that engage the viewer to make them want to interact with and investigate further. My driving force has been to explore the beauty and character of corrugated cardboard in functional and sculptural forms.

Custom Furniture by James Oleson. My first furniture creations were plywood beds for my children, clearly utilitarian objects designed for specific functions. As I continued to design and make furniture my vision began to change and I saw the object as composed of related shapes, lines, and curves in three dimensions a sculptural object that embodied aesthetic ideas.