Michael Gilling is a woodworker based in Ōtautahi Christchurch who works on projects big and small, from fitouts to single pieces of furniture. “It’s about learning and developing my craft,” he says. “I’m lucky to have reached the point where clients can trust me with difficult and unique projects.”
Here: Tell us what you do and why you do it.
Michael Gilling: I own a joinery studio called Xylo. My focus is on creating beautiful and functional objects and spaces. I work on everything from architectural fitouts to bespoke timber furniture; pieces to be lived with – that will show the patina of wear, time and human touch.
H: How did you come to be a woodworker?
MG: As a kid, I would get into Dad’s workshop and build little wooden boats. As I grew up, I constructed skate ramps with my brother. I felt comfortable around the tools. I remember needing a new set of drawers as a teenager and insisted on building them. After university, my goal was to work for myself in some way. I started a building apprenticeship and felt uninspired. I was crafting things in my spare time, beginning with a hollow surfboard made using free timber I’d found on the side of the road. It sparked that old creativity and joy I had when I was younger, so I kept at it. I started studying Japanese woodworking techniques and began trying the various joints and methods I was learning. This led to some small commissions and eventually full-time work.
H: You work on everything from single pieces to fitouts – what ties it all together?
MG: I think cohesive design ties it all together: taking elements, dimensions, offsets etc and carrying them around the space. The craft element is also important. I helped with the fitout of Daily Bread in Belmont. We added subtle bowtie inlays to the joins of this long timber bench seat. They are purely decorative and perhaps unnecessary, but it’s a reminder that a person’s hands have worked on it. I think it makes people feel relaxed in the space.
H: What makes a good piece for you?
MG: Simplicity, restraint and balance; a piece that can hold its own while also fitting into a space and enhancing the other furnishings and objects around it. I think that crafted objects hold the energy of the maker, which gives them a feeling of being “real”. Embracing the natural characteristics the timber gives you and honouring that instead of trying to sanitise it.
H: What are you working on right now?
MG: I’m in the midst of a seven-metre floor-to-ceiling bookcase, and putting the final touches on a spiral timber handrail. I’m also working on my first product, a timber lounge chair with an upholstered seat, which I’m hoping to launch in the coming months via my new online store.
Xylo
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