Patrick Kim-Gustafson, a Swedish designer and artist of Korean and Swedish heritage, transforms wood into hybrid creations that blur the lines between sculpture and function, reflecting his studio’s core philosophy of exploring the evolution from tree to object, nature to worked sculpture. A trained industrial designer, he approaches woodworking as a tactile and intuitive process, crafting pieces from reclaimed oak beams, some over a century old.

Inspired by his Swedish upbringing and its rich folklore, he presents wooden stools imbued with animism, evoking the mystical ecosystems of forests depicted in John Bauer’s 19th-century illustrations of trolls and gnomes. Employing techniques like the Japanese yakisugi, which preserves wood by charring, Kim-Gustafson’s works embody a blend of ancestral knowledge, humor, and the enduring spirit of the material, inviting reflection on the intertwined histories of nature and craftsmanship.