EVAN DUNSTONE

Mutawintji 3 is a response to the ancient landscape of Mutawintji National Park. The area is defined by water channels over ancient rock formations, the twisted trunks of desert trees, an arid plane of shifting red soil, and the slow passage of time. In drought, the landscape is still, brooding and biding its time. The days are hot, but the night is alive with animals. When the rains come, Mutawintji is a place of startling beauty and verdant life; it’s never the same landscape twice.

The ever-changing nature of the landscape is expressed in Mutawintji 3. The fluting speaks of watercourses and stone. The forms are organic, but the lines are hard. The ebonized figured river red gum changes with the light, the way the colour of the landscape changes with the heat, the night, the weather, and the seasons. Mutawintji 3 is a functional object with a deep story of place to tell.

Red gum is not considered a fine furniture timber. It does not conform to traditional Western woodworking techniques. The deep red colour of natural red gum is not fashionable. Red gum will rarely be specified by an interior designer and serious craftsmen avoid it. In the public imagination, red gum is good for firewood or railway sleepers, not art furniture.

Like all Dunstone Design work, Mutawintji 3 is a team effort. The design is by me, Evan Dunstone, with design input and primary craftsmanship by William Bayliss. Team members Alex McFarlane and Aditi Sargeant also played support roles to make this piece.

Evan Dunstone is an NSW based woodworker, educator, and writer. He embarked on the long journey as a craftsman in 1992 after a stint as a bush pilot flying in the Far-West of NSW and Far-North-Queensland. Trained by David MacLaren OAM, craftsman, and owner of the Bungendore Wood Works Gallery, Dunstone was 2001 Churchill Fellow and a 2022 Gottstein Fellow. His company Dunstone Design has been active since 1998 and been the subject of a range of articles, commissioned videos, podcasts, and live interviews.

Mutawintji 3, 2023
Highly figured river red gum (solid and resawn veneer), Huon pine, MDF, steel rod, PVA, epoxy resin glue, iron oxide, oil finish.
1600mm L x 380mm W x 900mm H
Craftsmanship and design input by Dunstone Design maker William Bayliss.
$12,980