On display at Bowers Writers House sits a part of James McNabb’s “City Series.” A whole shelf is home to a city skyline in miniature, a new life for scrap wood. McNabb, a wood crafter and artist, presented his artwork through slideshows and exhibits at Bowers at 8 p.m. on Nov. 5.
McNabb recently obtained a master’s degree in woodworking and furniture design from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He is also co-founder of McNabb and Co. in Philadelphia, Pa. His work has been exhibited in New York, Pennsylvania and Indiana galleries, as well as in magazines like “Fine Woodworking.” McNabb discussed his artwork in conjunction with his progress in woodcraft over the years at the Bowers.
McNabb is a self-described “artist, designer, maker,” saying that he has trouble defining himself as just one thing and that his definition of himself and his work changes over time. He began his academic career at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in woodworking and furniture design. RIT is renowned for technological training. “Somewhere in a corner lives the school of American crafts,” McNabb said.
McNabb explained that his time at RIT offered him the opportunity to learn how to do amazing things with practical applications. Each student in the program learned how to work with traditional techniques and tools and apply them in a contemporary way, before moving on to more modern tools like computers and laser cutters. Students were expected to develop skills in the fundamentals of manipulating material. McNabb said that there was not much creativity involved in the early projects he worked on besides developing hand-eye skills. The curriculum was structured such that once students mastered the basics, they were able to move on to more advanced coursework and more contemporary techniques. As he moved on in his coursework, the basic skills McNabb learned early on allowed him to imbue more expression into his work.
While still in these early stages, McNabb focused on quality and longevity over design. He developed “iPedestals” wood blocks with iPod charger cords strung through them, for a more aesthetic way to charge the devices. He joked that these were actually the precursors to today’s charging stations. As he developed his technical skill, McNabb began to experiment with design. “I think that the value of something is in some of the details,” he said. To him, a well-designed piece of anything must share the same care on the parts people don’t see — the back, insides and undersides — to show its quality.
He spent two years after graduating from RIT as an administrative assistant before deciding that it was not the way he wanted to spend the rest of his life. Instead, he went back to school and began working on his master’s degree. He did not want his skills to dissolve or for his work to sit in his parents’ basement covered with blankets. The master’s program he chose was rigorous, and McNabb spent as much of his time justifying the meaning of his works as he spent crafting them. He explained that the program forced him to learn to craft things differently and spend more time experimenting. He had to answer questions about his work and his chosen career field. Why make anything from wood? What is the importance of the craft? He believes all the importance in justifying his craft stemmed from wanting to offer something for everyone in his audience. “Anybody from any walk of life, whether they like something or not, can associate something to my work,” he said.
His close association with his audience is why the “City Series” works so well. People go to the city to be the best at what they do, he explained. This makes the city itself a great subject to work with. The city is full of life and meaning, so no matter what someone’s views, associations with the city abound. McNabb is of the opinion that people do not have to like cities to be able to associate with some aspect of them.
The “City Series” stemmed from his attempts to appeal to everyone, as well as his attempts to create more spontaneous art. It is not furniture, and it is not finely crafted, but it is a way for him to work through stress or “worker’s block,” as he calls it. The “City Series” uses scrap wood from his and others’ previous projects to create something with universal appeal.
