Furniture designer Neal Cameron began working with American cherry around six months ago while developing a bespoke kitchen for a client. Aware of cherry’s historic popularity within the Mid-Century Modern Design movement, he had also noticed a resurgence in its use across contemporary craft and design. Initially drawn to its warm hues and flowing grain, further research revealed that American cherry is also one of the most technically workable hardwoods — a discovery that piqued his curiosity from a processing perspective.

As with any unfamiliar timber, working with a new wood species required a period of learning and adaptation. Cameron describes this as building a relationship between maker and material – one that requires patience, sensitivity, and a deep understanding that no two species behave the same. American cherry challenged his usual approach due to its pronounced sensitivity to light, with light exposure creating a richer deeper tone. This demanded a heightened awareness of when and how the timber was processed and stored, especially during larger project builds. The timber continues to evolve post-delivery, further deepening in hue and character. For Cameron, this quality is a reminder that makers must work with–and embrace–timber’s natural characteristics.

Informed by this research, the Hollow Stool is a celebration of primary forms and explores the reductive notion that ‘less is sometimes more’. The subtle complexity of cherry’s grain is elevated by carefully balanced blocks of colour, allowing the natural beauty of the wood to be showcased.

The design of Hollow Stool emerged through an iterative process of exploring reduction from singular components which unify as parts of a great whole. Through the intuitive exploration of form, the design began to autonomously reveal new functional and visual properties which distinguish the final product.