Guest Blog: Maker in Residence, Nicole Lowe discusses Jumping in Headfirst: An exploration of form through the lens of math, collaboration, and purpose

As the HWLC Maker-in-Residence, Nicole Lowe introduced the CPL community to woodworking techniques and skills in  incredibly rewarding and accessible ways using simple resources such as wood veneer to create stunning art. Nicole's residency also involved creating a window display along State Street - Jumping in Headfirst: An exploration of form through the lens of math, collaboration, and purpose. Read more to hear from Nicole about the inspiration, planning, processing, and craftsmanship behind this amazing installation on display outside HWLC through the end of 2025. 

About the Installation

Jumping in Headfirst was the culmination of the work done in workshops and in my studio during the course of the summer residency as well as two collaborations and a prototype. Featured prominently is The Knot. This piece is a bent laminated wood sculpture created using the technique I developed and taught in workshops at four of the regional libraries around the city during the course of this residency with the Chicago Public Library Foundation. It is heavily influenced by explorations into mathematics that describe shapes - knot theory, in particular.

There are also two pieces created in collaboration with two other craftspeople who work with me at the Goodman Theatre scene shop - Stephen Geis and Casey Kelly. Stephen is an incredible photographer. He sees the beauty in found objects and captures those in photos as well as small sculptural pieces. Casey has a background in fine furniture and sculpture. He's got a love for the process in ways only an artist does - though I'm certain he would not agree with that title. Collaborative relationships are the friendships I seek. It was a joy to work with and share the pieces we created as part of this final project.

Finally, there is a piece called "Lines on a Cubic" which you will see as a prototype casting shadows on the backdrop. This serves as a roadmap for what is next for me artistically. Clearly I like creating curved forms, and while "Lines on a Cubic" doesn't look curved - it one day will. The form is a skeleton for a curved surface that is graphically created using 27 straight lines. These lines serve as a backbone for the curves that will be stretched over the frame. There is a skill gap here though - I want to learn more about textiles to be able to weave the curves between these straight lines. So for now, I keep making these skeletons and illuminating them to find new shapes in the shadows while I teach myself some basic skills in textile geometry. 

What brought me to the residency

After teaching a long form woodworking course where I taught students how to build a jewelry box in a professional woodworking shop, I was asked a very important question about access and gatekeeping. "What if we want to keep woodworking but don't have access to a shop with tools and a community?" It's a question I asked myself ten years ago when I was trying to figure out what was next for me after college. An office job wasn't going to make me happy. I craved using my body and mind in unison, but I didn't have any concrete skills to do so. Like so many, I turned to the internet to find like-minded people willing to teach me what they knew. I took a self-driven course in woodworking at the Industrial Art and Design Center here in Chicago where we initially learned basic shop safety, and then we were released into this space like wild animals to make whatever project we wanted. I made a couple of things - a blanket chest for my mom and an entryway storage solution for myself.

In order to maintain access to the shop, I became a monitor for open shop sessions where people would pay a fee to use the tools for a set amount of time, and I would make sure they were doing so safely. This didn't really seem sustainable though. The shop was too far away, and I seek a low barrier of entry to the things that interest me. At the time I was living in a one bedroom apartment with a separate living and dining room. So like a driven 24 year old with nothing to lose, I turned my dining room into a shop. My ambitious first project - an electric guitar made from only hand tools so I didn't drive my neighbors to insanity with the noise. I did finish making that guitar and gifted it to a friend for their wedding. It still lives on in their music shed! However, turning your dining room into a wood shop isn't really reasonable or attainable for most people. So I came up with a technique for beginner and advanced woodworkers alike, and I built a workshop to give the technique away in hopes someone takes it and launches their own love of making and woodworking.

If you would like to learn more about this technique I taught and used in my final project, please see "The Technique" page on my website.

About the Residency