And in being functional, it is somewhat traditional in its form, even if contemporary. The work here, even though a couple of these artists are making semi-functional pieces, is extremely artistic. It takes on a new meaning for form and design. Still, the wider arts community remains somewhat uninformed of this trend, which will be represented at Finer Things by more than 40 individual works. Stoney Lamar of North Carolina, another artist participating in the Finer Things show, said the medium itself is likely a sticking point.
Wood suffers from several things.
People think of wood as something they can use. The problem is that you have to get them past that to look also at the form, and that's difficult. But all of a sudden, a group of artists have taken this to a new level, and they are consistently finding new avenues and roads to go down with what they're doing. Wolfe said these artists continue, typically, to begin with the lathe. The difference is in how they proceed.