Defying skeptics, this photographer followed his passion to become a woodworker

Remarkable Living

Defying skeptics, this photographer followed his passion to become a woodworker

There are fewer than 10 artisanal woodworkers in Singapore. Louis Kwok is one of them, and sees himself every bit an artist and designer who makes useful things for people.

31 January 2022 06:30AM (Updated: 16 Aug 2022 02:54PM)

For xv years, commercial photographer Louis Kwok loved capturing moments in time. But information technology was the beauty of wood that ultimately captured his eye – and his hands.

His interest in woodwork was sparked by his wife Adelene Koh, a professional bookbinder who restores vintage books and makes bespoke ones. She once asked him to make a printing to hold papers together while she worked on them.

Louis Kwok and his married woman Adelene Koh. (Photograph: Threesixzero Productions)

He recalled, "When I finished that press, it was very ugly only I felt very accomplished. I felt very empowered because I could make something, and it was useful. The whole journey started when I wanted to brand that ugliness cute."

His deep passion for woodwork made him determined to go overseas to hone his craft, despite many skeptics telling him that it was a dusk manufacture. He wanted to express his inventiveness in three-dimensional form, which he felt was lacking in photography.

There are fewer than 10 artisanal woodworkers in Singapore. Louis Kwok is one of them. Discover out why he gave upwardly a career every bit a commercial photographer to pursue his passion for woodcraft.

"My relationship with timber is a very love-hate relationship. I love it because it'south a very malleable, tactile material. So again, I sometimes detest it because it is besides very volatile and it also has its own moods," he shared.

"It changes due to temperature and moisture levels. Information technology can expand, contract, or twist and plough in unexpected means, so you actually have to exist careful of the type of material that you lot utilize for a specific project."

There are fewer than 10 woodworkers in Singapore and Kwok is i of them. (Photo: Threesixzero Productions)

There are fewer than 10 woodworkers in Singapore and Kwok is one of them. His practice is known as Kjung Woodwork. In 2012, he studied one-to-ane for 3 days nether an achieved artisan in Tokorozawa in central Nippon, learning how to utilise traditional Japanese tools to craft tables and cabinets.

A year later, he enrolled at the Peter Sefton Furniture School in the UK. There, he was intrigued past the geometrical shapes that he could create with veneers and wanted to create curves and more than complicated designs with information technology. He later interned at the Atelier Lacroix Marrec in Paris to deepen his skills in marquetry.

"Marquetry is something that allows me to aggrandize my designs into more intricate details and pictures. I think I'm very fortunate to have found my beloved for information technology and for making boxes and piecing the both of them together," he said.

Kwok has received commissions for a range of items from the applied to the quirky. He has created a personalised photo anthology box with a cloak-and-dagger compartment; a magic box for a chef to brandish desserts and cakes; and a humidor from Spanish cedar, which locks in the optimal wet level to preserve cigars.

Among his many creations is this magic box for a chef to brandish desserts and cakes. (Photo: Threesixzero Productions)

He has likewise made whisky trays, knife sheaths and bookbinding equipment. The smallest piece he has ever created is a proposal band box, and the largest, a modular wardrobe that took six months to handcraft from solid scarlet wood.

I of his favourite pieces is an angled stool for an uncommonly tall client to meditate on comfortably. "I decided to use motifs of lotus and colours from what you would normally see in a monastery in Bhutan, effectually that region."

Ane of his favourite pieces is an angled stool for an exceptionally tall client to meditate on comfortably. (Photo: Threesixzero Productions)

Kwok peculiarly loves working on boxes and feels that their characteristics are a reflection of himself. He explained, "There are so many things you tin put into a box. For me, the most of import thing is to make sure that information technology has a 'wow' factor. Information technology's non just [a receptacle with] four sides and a lid, information technology tin also [come with a] secret compartment.

"My boxes have layers that go deeper and deeper and deeper. Perhaps that reflects my graphic symbol as well: There are many layers to my personality and my interests."

Kwok intends to push his inventiveness farther through the apply of marquetry and the integration of materials such as metals and fifty-fifty bones. (Photo: Threesixzero Productions)

He intends to push his inventiveness farther through the apply of marquetry and the integration of materials such as metals and even bones, ultimately creating museum-worthy pieces.

"Every piece I make has to terminal for a long time. The intention is to have that piece passed down from generation to generation. I call back that every project and commission that comes to me is a learning experience. I'm very thankful that I have that opportunity to detect new things."

"I think that every projection and commission that comes to me is a learning feel. I'm very thankful that I have that opportunity to discover new things," said Kwok. (Photograph: Threesixzero Productions)

Adjusted from the series Remarkable Living (Season iii). Lookout total episodes on CNA, every Lord's day at 8.30pm.

Defying skeptics, this photographer followed his passion to become a woodworker

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