Growing up in Hollywood, I was surrounded with visual enrichment. The variety of motion pictures, glamorous architecture, whimsical landscaping, superb museums and unique people made me well versed in the visual arts. For the past twenty years I have lived and worked in Upstate New York. My work now reflects a certain … Read more Growing up in Hollywood, I was surrounded with visual enrichment. The variety of motion pictures, glamorous architecture, whimsical landscaping, superb museums and unique people made me well versed in the visual arts. For the past twenty years I have lived and worked in Upstate New York. My work now reflects a certain metropolitan sensibility infused by the primal beauty of the Finger Lakes Region.

Most of us now realize that certain human needs are left dissatisfied by cold industrial progress. It is not easy to cozy up to melamine, chrome and vinyl. We long for familiar elements from our origin, even a small memento of the Garden, where we used to walk with God in the cool of the day.

While natural materials fuel my imagination, function remains the forefront of my designs. What I build is not going to hang on a wall or be displayed in a corner. By definition, furniture is a useful object for the home and it must endure daily use. I am sometimes called an artist, but I don't make art. What I make is more like a beautiful tool.

Anto Parseghian