Influenced by the simple, clean lines of the Bauhaus movement, Virginia’s Christina Boy draws on a love of classic modern and rural environment in her furniture designs.
The artist: Born in Gießen, Germany, Boy grew up in Bonn, where she combined a two-year-plus retail apprenticeship in an office and commercial design show with trade school at the furniture college in Cologne.
Boy also managed the showroom, which sparked her love for modern furniture, before moving to the United States to pursue a degree in craft + material studies from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).
After graduation, Boy was awarded a two-year fellowship at the Penland School of Craft (NC), where she focused on furniture design and building.
The company/studio: Christina Boy Design is based in Madison. Boy’s studio is on her in-laws farm, about a half-mile mile from their house.
The studio, built with the help of her father-in-law and husband starting in 2011, offers a view of rolling hay fields and the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The goods: Mostly wood furniture.
What’s popular: Stool 33, a three-legged stool that is stackable and can double as a small table ($395).
Perfect for smaller spaces, the versatile piece can be made in pretty much any color (black to hot pink). Or for fun, each leg of the table/stool can be painted a different color. Seats are bleached ash, natural cherry or walnut.
Other favorites:
- Rope bench ($1,800 to $2,600) in walnut, cherry or bleached maple. The seat is woven with MFP rope.
- Chair 367 ($975) in walnut, oak, or bleached maple with leather strapping and rivets.
- Patchwork chair ($3,200 to $3,500) in a walnut, maple, cherry, oak frame. Seat is covered in small wooden tiles that have been textured, painted, distressed and arranged in different patterns.
Unusual requests: Recently asked by a client to make a memorial box for his father-in-law’s ashes as a gift to his wife.
Inspiration: The showroom, where Boy first work, sparked her interest in modern furniture design. It carried pieces from the Bauhaus era and furniture by other noteworthy designers, including the Eames’, Harry Bertoia, Eero Saarinen, Dieter Rams and Sir Norman Foster.
Also the rural setting, where Boy now lives and works. “It has influenced me in adding color, texture and pattern,” said Boy.
Awards: Many, including:
- Smithsonian Craft Show Artist Choice Award
- Student NICHE Award
- Allen A. Eastman Award for excellence in wood at VCU
- State Fair of Virginia Scholarship
What’s next:
- On a panel of Modern Women Makers on March 10 for Modern Richmond, a non-profit promoting modernism.
- Exhibiting at the Smithsonian Craft Optimism Virtual Market April 24 to May 1.
- Exhibiting at High Point Market (NC) this spring with the Mill Collective, a curated exhibition and talent platform connecting artists and studios with designers, architects and boutiques.
- Teaching a class (Build, Weave, Take a seat!) at the Appalachian Center for Craft (TN) this summer. Participants will build a simple stool and weave a Danish cord seat.
Where to buy: christinaboydesign.com and the gallery at Penland.org
Get social at:
- Instagram: christinaboydesign
