Anna Søgaard — Curved Work
ABOUT THE PROJECT:
Curved Work by Anna Søgaard is a series of functional objects made from elm wood. The collection grew from explorations into a simple woodworking technique – the utilisation of a table saw to create a curved profile. As a blade gradually cuts into the timber in millimetre-wide increments, the characteristic curved form running throughout the collection is created. From this technique, Søgaard has developed three objects: a tray, a box and a vase. Through repetition, stacking and variation, the same approach is applied across different functional typologies, resulting in three distinct visual forms. Rather than drawing attention to a specific function, Søgaard encourages people to interact with the objects and discover their own ways of using them.
PROJECT QUOTE:
“What interests me is how one form relates to the next, how the grain of the wood influences the overall expression, and how a single format can be repeated, stacked, scaled, or duplicated to create a larger composition. The individual pieces only become complete when they exist together.”
Material and dimensions:
Curved Work – Storage.
Elm Wood.
20 x 20 x 70cm.
Curved Work – Tray.
Elm Wood.
50 x 50 x 2.5cm.
Curved Work – Dry Vase.
Elm Wood.
10 x 10 x 35cm.
Year:
2026
PHOTOGRAPHY BY:
Benjamin Lund
LONG DESCRIPTION:
The Curved Work collection continues designer and maker Anna Søgaard’s on-going exploration into simple wooden forms through repetition, rhythm, scale and the relationships created as they are stacked and combined by the user. Like all of Søgaard’s pieces, Curved Work was crafted hands-on in her Copenhagen workshop, where trial-and-error and a sense of play helps shape how new ideas come to life. The starting point for the project was a unique curved profile crafted through a time-intensive circular saw cutting technique. While the profile is simple within its singular form, when combined and repeated its soft curves create a sculptural quality to the collection. The imperfections of this production method are accentuated by the variation of elm wood – Søgaard utilising a timber that is overlooked by industry due to its unpredictability. The natural qualities of the elm become an integral part of each object, with differences in colour, grain and texture adding character and variety. Rather than aiming for uniformity, Søgaard embraces these differences, allowing both the material and the technique to shape the final expression.
DESIGNER BIO:
Anna Søgaard.
Product and Furniture Designer, born 1993.
Working from her studio within a shared creative community in Copenhagen’s Amager district, the inquisitive and open nature of designer Anna Søgaard is reflected both within her approach to her practice, as well as the objects and products she creates. Deeply connected to her preferred medium of wood, Søgaard’s design approach is explorative and at times naïve, allowing her mind to wander between experiments as constant iterations create a through line from one project to the next. Geometry and a mathematical approach ensures that her final objects are minimal yet intuitive – focusing on doing the most with the least. Fascinated with the way in which people keep and interact with the objects of daily life, her output contains a strong focus on storage furniture. The function of Søgaard’s objects remain open to the user, which helps to build an enhanced dialogue between people and their belongings, as well as the natural qualities of the wood she uses to shape her objects.
EDUCATION:
2021: MA, Furniture and Object, Royal Danish Academy, Copenhagen, Denmark.
2018: BA, Furniture Design, Royal Danish Academy, Copenhagen, Denmark.
GRANTS & HONOURS:
2026: Working Grant, Danish Arts Foundation, Denmark.
2025: Project Grant, Danish Arts Foundation, Denmark.
2024: Project Grant, Beckett Foundation, Denmark.
2024: Project Grant, Grosserer L. F. Foghts Foundation, Denmark.
2024: Project Grant, Denmark’s Nationalbanks Jubilæumsfond of 1968, Denmark.
2024: Project Grant, Danish Arts Foundation, Denmark.
2024: Working Grant, Danish Arts Foundation, Denmark.
2023: Project Grant, Grosserer L. F. Foghts Foundation, Denmark.
2023: Project Grant, Denmark’s Nationalbanks Jubilæumsfond of 1968, Denmark.
2023: Working Grant, Danish Arts Foundation, Denmark.
2022: Project Grant, Denmark’s Nationalbanks Jubilæumsfond of 1968, Denmark.
EXHIBITIONS:
2025: Group Exhibition, The Cabinetmakers Autumn Exhibition, Thoravej 29, Copenhagen, Denmark.
2025: Group Exhibition, Collaboration with Tronhjem Rømer, Biennale for Craft and Design, GLAS, Ebeltoft, Denmark.
2025: Group Exhibition, Bread and Butter, 3daysofdesign, Copenhagen, Denmark.
2025: Solo Exhibition, BOX – Wooden Objects in Mathematical Systems, Officinet, Copenhagen, Denmark.
2023: Group Exhibition, The Mindcraft Project, Denmark.
2023: Group Exhibition, Collaboration with Hysteria, The Biennale for Craft & Design, Carlsberg, Copenhagen, Denmark.
2022: Group Exhibition, The Cabinetmakers Autumn Exhibition, Fabrikken for Kunst og Design, Copenhagen, Denmark.
2022: Group Exhibition, ADORNO x Tableau – Getting There, Gradually, Copenhagen Contemporary, Copenhagen, Denmark.
2020: Group Exhibition, Ukurant, Copenhagen, Denmark.
COMMISSIONS & COLLABORATIONS:
2026: Galleri Høstbo, Copenhagen, Denmark.
2025: Restaurant Kadeu, Copenhagen, Denmark.
2024: Bikuben Foundation, Thoravej 29, Ukurant, Copenhagen, Denmark.
2024: Frama, Copenhagen, Denmark.
2023: Dinesen x Copenhagen Contemporary Market, Copenhagen, Denmark.
2023: Reform, New York, USA.
2022: Dinesen, Jels, Denmark.
2022: Fritz Hansen, Munich, Germany.
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