Fred Aartun

Fred Aartun

Fred Aartun works with wood through a language of calm precision. His hand-carved spoons and utensils take shape slowly, each emerging from the pace of carving rather than from a predetermined design. Grain directs the process: the knife follows its line, adjusting to knots and fibres, revealing a form already latent within the material.

Aartun approaches wood as a living surface, treating each piece with a mix of natural oil and beeswax that deepens tone through touch and use. Tool marks are left visible; handled over time, they shift from trace to texture, absorbing use into the life of the piece.

His connection to wood is both personal and inherited. Aartun’s family in Norway ran a wood factory for several generations, producing wooden shoes, then windows, doors, and furniture. The shape of the wooden shoe, carved by his great-grandfather, continues to inform his sense of proportion and curve.

Influenced by sculptors such as JB Blunk, Isamu Noguchi, and Barbara Hepworth, Aartun approaches each object as a meeting of craft and sculpture. The utensils created for Collection 01 are scaled to daily use yet carry the composure of form, balancing patience with presence and a lineage of making that endures through hand and grain.