Bespoke fine furniture maker and artist, David Tragen, has used lockdown to fulfil a dream, the creation of a beautiful, ground-breaking illuminated artwork, formed in cold cast bronze, which he has named Transmission.

Designer and maker of beautiful and unique furniture for homes and businesses across the UK and overseas, David has, since 2019, found himself drawn more and more towards the creation of pure art, running alongside the fine furniture, or functional art, he first developed his reputation for.

David says: “Over the last three years I have sought to move my work further into the realm of sculpture, pushing functional constraints to one side to be able to fully express my creative interests. With this has also come the desire to adopt new techniques and materials and my workshop has slowly adapted to my newly learned mould making and casting techniques.”

By January of 2020 David was playing with new ideas for a sculpture that would challenge all of his skills, but when the pandemic broke it quickly became a ‘lockdown project’ to which he could dedicate more time.
“Over the course of the spring the design took a more definite form, drawing together two key interests of mine: wave forms, and the op art movement, a style of visual art that uses optical illusions. As I am interested in movement and flow but the objects I create are static, introducing the moiré effect into the design is a way of artificially creating this perceived movement via the distorted sense of depth.”

While the various lockdowns of 2020, and the cancellation of the various exhibitions he would usually attend, freed up more time for David to work on Transmission, the process of creating the moulds, casting the pieces, and designing and fitting the light diffuser took a full 12 months to complete, not a moment of which was wasted.

“The final phase in a significant project was getting the piece photographed,” David says, “and having seen the amazing fine art equine photography of Matthew Seed, he seemed like the perfect person to accept the challenge of representing the various personalities of the piece. After working long hours to get the pieces ready for our appointment, arriving at his studio at Arley Hall felt like the last day of school before the holidays.”

Matthew has used his own artistic skill to distill the mesmerising curves and illusions of the piece into a series of stunning photographs that truly show the extraordinary nature of what David has created. No two sights of this piece are ever the same, influenced as they are both by natural light and the diffused light built into the piece, which creates a constant sinuous flow that simply bewitches the viewer.

Transmission will be produced, to order, and can be commissioned in either cold cast bronze or aluminium by contacting David via email, at david@davidtragen.co.uk with “Transmission” as the subject.

Notes to editors
David Tragen is a designer and artist based in Cheshire, creating original, contemporary furniture, wall art and sculpture. He creates both open and limited edition pieces, as well as working closely with clients on bespoke commissions.

His process is all about attention to detail, both at the design and making stages. His made-to-order work focuses on traditional craftsmanship with a handcrafted approach sitting at the heart of producing exclusive, luxury pieces.
His furniture is inspired primarily by beauty found in the natural world and regularly uses themes of movement and flow, characterised by clean lines and gently undulating curves.

David’s creative journey began in Barcelona, where he trained before returning to the UK in 2002 to gain two further years’ experience with two of the country’s leading fine furniture makers. His clients appreciate the attention to detail that goes into creating an exclusive product and since setting up his business in 2004 he has supplied pieces to clients across the UK and overseas.

He works from a converted barn in Ashley, in rural Cheshire, where clients can, if they wish, witness David at work, filling their senses with the scent, sight and feel of some of the most beautiful wood to be found in the UK.