Design Canoe Studio

Functional and organic in nature, Jacob Baker’s sculpture serves as a tangible reminder of our connection with the power and beauty of the elements surrounding us. He enjoys discovering materials that are interesting to the eye and takes great pleasure in releasing the individuality found within each of those materials, bringing to light their potential in completely original designs. His newest collection of work available at Showroom includes stone, wood and other materials discovered along Minnesota’s North Shore.

Jacob Baker is a native Nova Scotian who grew up along its beautiful South Shore. His work is informed by a love of the outdoors, in particular shorelines, places of contrasting elements: light, water, land. The persistent tension between these worldly domains drives a primal conversation of creation and deconstruction. This is where he goes for inspiration and where he gathers many of the materials used in his work.

Jacob explores how the shore’s atmosphere of contrasts in motion can be sculpturally represented. His pallet is a mix of opposites – stone and glass, wood and metal, that he harmonizes in his compositions while allowing their differences to still speak of the tensions between them. His design premise appropriates a common shoreline feature, the lighthouse beacon, which stands still as a silent observer of the movement surrounding it. Jacob pulls this kinetic energy into his work by deconstructing the lantern form, carving wood along its flowing growth lines, and creating fluid shapes in wire and solder. Each of Jacob’s pieces aims to provide a point of beautiful inquisition, where even an eye familiar with the piece may be rewarded with something new.

Design Canoe Studio reflects the joy he’s had paddling with a great friend in a fine birch bark canoe that they built together years ago. In it, he has ventured along many shorelines, each of them a special and cherished place.