A Girl and Her Table

Earlier last year, I heard about the furniture of Korean designer Kwak Chulan, and I was immediately taken by the beauty and energy of his tables:

http://www.designboom.com/weblog/read.php?CATEGORY_PK=&TOPIC_PK=2255

These tables were inspired by running horses, and they are poetry captured in form. So lovely.

Kwak’s tables made a lasting impression and when they came to my attention again, I decided to try and contact this brilliant young designer to inquire about his works of art.

We emailed back and forth, and I commissioned a table in walnut. It would taken several months, so I put it in the back of my mind and busied myself with the business of moving into our new home .

Kwak and I stayed in touch about the progress of the piece, and a few weeks ago, he let me know that my table was complete and would ship.

This morning the UPS man delivered this package to my door:

Kwak’s beautiful table arrived in perfect condition, and it is magnificent:


 
In an interesting twist of fate, since I had already contacted Kwak, I was able to put Neil Gaiman in touch with the designer when Neil expressed interest in Kwak’s tables on Twitter. Oh, what a small, small world.

So soon our table (dubbed the dancing table by my 2-year-old daughter), will have a sister table on a distant Scottish Isle. (Although I believe that his table will be a darker table, more distressed…as is appropriate.)

My youngest has claimed our dancing table for her own and has decided to stake her claim before her siblings get home from school.

I think she may stay under there all day.

Published by Valya

Valya Dudycz Lupescu has been making magic with food and words for more than 20 years, incorporating folklore from her Ukrainian heritage with practices that honor the Earth. She’s a writer, content developer, instructor, and mother of three teenagers. Valya is the author of MOTHER CHRISTMAS, THE SILENCE OF TREES, and the founding editor of CONCLAVE: A Journal of Character. Along with Stephen H. Segal, she is the co-author of FORKING GOOD: An Unofficial Cookbook for Fans of The Good Place and GEEK PARENTING: What Joffrey, Jor-El, Maleficent, and the McFlys Teach Us about Raising a Family (Quirk Books), and co-founder of the Wyrd Words storytelling laboratory. Valya earned her MFA in Writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and her poetry and prose have been published in anthologies and magazines that include, The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, Kenyon Review, Culture, Gargoyle Magazine, Gone Lawn, Strange Horizons, Mythic Delirium. You can find her on Twitter @valya and on Mastodon.social @valya

9 thoughts on “A Girl and Her Table”

  1. angelislington says:

    That table is incredible!

    Your daughter is so sweet, calling it the ‘dancing’ table – what does it say about me, when my first thought was ‘ooooh Cthulhu’? *giggles* πŸ˜‰

  2. autumnamber says:

    Oh! to be small again, and to wiggle under such a table! Adventures galore!

    It is beautiful! Thank you for sharing your dancing table with us, Valya.

  3. dr_phil_physics says:

    That’s lovely. Now… is this the daughter you’re trying to potty train? She can only sit under there if she does her duty. I dunno — I don’t have kids. I’ve heard bribery works. (grin0

    Dr. Phil

  4. red_tess says:

    COOLEST TABLE EVAR.
    I totally thought of Cthulu too. πŸ™‚

  5. Anonymous says:

    That is truly a stunning piece of art. Amazing, beautiful, alive.

    I hope he’s still making them by the time I can afford to own one.

  6. alibaster says:

    Also, it reminds me of Beetlejuice. : )

  7. zuricrow says:

    What Tess Said!

    What Tess Said!

  8. ellen_kushner says:

    Your dancing table is beautiful – and so is your house, come to that!

    We had a rocking chair made for us, by a fan of my show, a retired professor in Georgia – but that’s another story – anyhow, he sent us photos every step of the way, including the wood he choose . . . it was like seeing sonograms of a fetus! Very cool, lovely and loving. Everyone who comes to our house needs to sit in it.

  9. charyvna says:

    Thank you!

    There is something so wonderful about a wooden rocking chair, they can develop such a personality, often taking on a bit of the energy of the person who sits in it the most. I haven’t found one that feels quite right. It does seem like the sort of thing that one should inherit or have made for you. I have a feeling the right one will someday find its way here to Casa del Lobos.

    When you find yourself next in Chicago, you’re invited to come by for some tea or coffee (and maybe pierogies/varenyky).

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