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Erin Malloy studied Visual Communication Design, completing her Honours in 2012 at RMIT. After securing a plum full-time role as a graphic designer/project manager at a design studio after graduating, it wasn’t long before Erin found herself yearning for something more. These days, from her studio in Macedon in rural Victoria, Erin makes exquisite handcrafted homewares out of reclaimed timber – spoons, serving boards, cocktail stirrers, muddlers and rolling pins, to name a few.
Erin was drawn to woodwork as a kind of ‘escape’ from the everyday grind. Her Grandfather was a carpenter and woodworker, and by chance, she ended up inheriting all of his tools. She soon began practising woodcarving and turning, and became hooked. ‘Woodcarving provided a state of mind where I could escape the outside world and just be’ Erin says.
Function is key to Erin’s practice. She describes her aesthetic as ‘no frills’ – simple objects, designed and made beautifully. Erin hopes that her bespoke timber kitchenware and tableware will turn everyday tasks into treasured rituals for the end user. ‘I try to make pieces that I would want to use, guided by what I feel is missing from my own kitchen’ Erin says.
All Erin’s handcrafted timber tools start as a free-hand drawing on a carefully selected piece of wood. For her spoons, she starts by carving a scoop from a solid piece of timber with a hook knife. The main shape is then cut out with a band saw, after which she carves, files and sands away by hand until she am happy with the finished form. From start to finish, a spoon takes three to four hours to make.
A selection of Erin’s handcrafted homewares are available to buy in her online shop. She will also join a host of other local creatives showcasing their wares at the Domestic Frontier pop-up event next month in Collingwood.
