Gallery NAGA features Rosanne Somerson

Sideboard by Rosanne Somerson, made from Macassar ebony, pearwood, and printed leather. Courtesy of Galley Naga

Boston’s Gallery Naga concluded 2023 with a solo exhibition by furniture maker Rosanne Somerson, former president of the Rhode Island School of Design. The exhibition, Rosanne Somerson: Fluid/Solid, featured a collection of recent work.

“The exhibition is comprised of work that was years in the consideration and making. Together with her trusted team of studio assistants, Somerson’s body of work represents more than just finely crafted furniture,” the gallery said in a statement.

Somerson’s Copper Leaves Table, made with mixed woods, aluminum, printed and plain veneer. Courtesy of Galley Naga

The exhibition was accompanied by a fully illustrated catalog with an essay by Michelle Millar Fisher, Curator of Contemporary Decorative Arts at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. In her essay, Fisher describes the integration of Somerson’s early photographic endeavors with the furniture forms.

Water Ribbon Table, made from cherry, aluminum, digitally printed maple, and mahogany. Courtesy of Galley Naga

“Inspired by forms in nature and in some instances employing her first medium of photography – of water ripples, waves, and reflections – she has built a new body of work that is as beautiful as it is assured. A low coffee table with six leaf shapes spanning out across its surface is finished in copper. Benches are covered in custom-designed and woven fabric. Open one of the drawers of the hanging wall vanity with a mirror and you’ll find custom printed leather in their bottoms. An imaginative mail cabinet for an entryway invites care, play, and exquisite design into the everyday,” writes Fisher.

Detail of the sideboard and Somerson’s Mail House made with Baltic birch plywood, beech, beech veneer, printed veneer, imbuia, and brass. Courtesy of Galley Naga

“Each conveys the method that Somerson once described as producing what she deems her best work: ideas that come from who knows where, and I make them and they work. In the precision and virtuosity of medium, finish, and form, it is evident that even if her ideas are not overworked, they rest upon deep knowledge of precedent. This is, after all, an artist who grew up visiting Winterthur and then worked in close community with the phenomenal museum collection at RISD, home to rich holdings of furniture that spans centuries.”

For more, visit gallerynaga.com.

This article was originally published in the January 2024 issue.

Gallery Naga Rhode Island School Of Design Rosanne Somerson

Jennifer HicksAuthor