By Charles Trevelyan

Exquisite proportions, meticulous craftsmanship, and sensual forms are the three key elements that characterize the furniture and light sculptures by Australian, London-based designer Charles Trevelyan (b. 1974), presented in a new solo show, 'Fuse,' opened this evening at Carpenters Workshop Gallery. The imagery and distorted forms, which according to Trevelyan were inspired by the world of branches and roots can lead you to imagine yourself walking in a forest of fantasy, full of metal trees with exposed roots. But to me, the pieces in the show looked as if they were taken directly from the silent Expressionist cinema, those avant-garde films produced in the 1920s Germany, with their extreme aesthetics (below). Trevelyan was trained in engineering of chemicals and metals, and while using various fabricators in producing his sculptures, a thorough understanding of his materials is clearly guiding him. All pieces in the exhibition, with the exception of the white lamp below are cast in bronze in a variety of patina. I loved 'Supine' (above), a desk of which legs are shaped like heavy roots, and it looks as if it grows from the ground. With hollow legs, which allow wires going through them and into outlets placed on the floor, this desk provides a wonderful solution to mess caused by wires of media. The exhibition will open through October 17th.