Rex Kalehoff: Explorations in Wood

Rex Kalehoff with his Fox Valet bench, created for Luxembourg’s 2023 Craft Biennial and shortlisted in Maker of the Year 2024. Photo: David Angeletti

Degrees in sculpture and furniture design followed by years of studio practice and teaching have given Rex Kalehoff the tools to shape and join wood to his will. He has travelled the world, literally, and in the form of his work that has been exhibited in New York, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Australia, Belgium and Luxembourg.

We asked Rex about his background, and also how he made one of the pieces he entered in Wood Review’s 2024 Maker of the Year awards, the Fox Valet bench.

Fox Valet bench, sapele and solid fumed oak. ‘An interpretation of a valet chair, offering a unique and contemplative furniture experience, while evoking fox-like attributes of playfulness and sophistication, wisdom and adaptability, masculinity and femininity.’ Photo: David Angeletti

You call yourself a ‘modern day explorer’. Who is Rex Kalehoff?
I am a wood sculptor, furniture maker, and educator. I was born and raised in New York City, on a gorgeous 1950s wooden sailboat called The Magic Venture. In addition to early childhood woodwork and design appreciation on the boat, living and travelling on the water instilled a strong sense of adventure and discovery that still inspires me today. I have remained committed to my artwork and creative vision, while going in and out of industry and teaching.

The Fox Valet bench frame was mortised and tenoned into a rigid cross- lapped grid. Photo: David Angeletti

My curiosity and creative endeavours have led me into some wild experiences. I’ve made several trips to Australia, for study, to visit family and also to get to know some Australian woodworkers. I spent a good period at the University in Hobart, studying first-hand the endemic plants, history and wilderness areas of Tasmania and mainland Australia. In contrast, I have also lived for several years amongst ancient customs and temple ruins in Southeast Asia, and more recently, become completely immersed in the marble carving world of Pietra Santa, Italy. I moved to Luxembourg in 2022 to be with my partner, and opened Rexinlux Wood Studios, where I currently work.

Making the Fox Valet bench started with sketches which then became full-scale technical drawings. 

Why do some makers choose furniture forms to express sculptural notions?
I am still exploring this topic myself, but certainly, various aspects of sculpture and furniture both inspire my work. My training and background in the two fields make them a natural pairing for me, and I’m definitely interested in how the two inform one another.

As a sculptor, I want to create incredible original forms, and say something meaningful with them. As a furniture maker, I want to show off technique and good design decisions, and create functional works that elevate the user’s experience. I’m slowly getting better at achieving this, but still striving. Furniture forms and archetypes have an interesting relationship to the notion of daily rituals, which I am excited to be investigating in my work.

The drawings were used to determine the sections of wood needed.

You say your work reflects on ‘paradoxical and harmonious relationships between nature and culture, modern and ancient times, mythology and science’. And what is the ‘personal mythology’ you speak of? How do you tie it all together?
Inspired by the art of ancient and indigenous cultures, and the way that myth was conveyed through various symbolism and animal representation, I’m interested in the notion that furniture, and the objects we use, can inspire individualised stories and rituals.

Personal mythology is a term I use to describe empowering stories created by an individual that inspire their particular ritual and connection to an object. These myths are inspired by a person’s unique life story, and the things that only they respond to. These relationship pairings are a framework of universal themes from which I can interpret the world’s history and current standing. My personal encounter with these themes in the various places I have called home (New York City, Tasmania, urban and rural countryside Thailand, and Luxembourg, among others) have given me a wide-ranging perspective and insight into the universality we share. I like to think I’m making light reference to big issues.

Gluing up the stack laminated sapele for the fox.

What’s your attitude to surfaces? Tooled, textured, perfectly smooth?
For years, I created strictly smooth and polished surfaces, thinking I was staying true to the material and highlighting unique grain patterns or tones. This was my MO, even on complex carved forms, meticulously sanding into all the corners and hard- to-reach areas to reach a perfectly soft and consistent surface. A uniform sanded surface was always key.

Initial roughing out of the fox form was done with a chainsaw.

Recently, on much of my carved work, I have been enjoying creating my final surface with a bastard file, and not doing any sanding at all. This almost cuts the working time in half, and I’ve completed twice as many pieces. The bastard file leaves great clarity and definition of form and I love the subtle chaos in the tool marks that give the piece an over-all ‘scuffed’ appearance. Despite the randomness of tool marks, there is still uniformity in the surface.

The completed carved and sanded fox along with stacks for the vessels, showing the pre-drilled holes for the dowel joinery. The scale model is also shown.

How do you deal with the search for perfect curves and lines?
I like the boat-building term, ‘fair curve’, to describe a curve with no lumps or flat spots. Drawn, cut, shaped, carved, or bent – flowing lines are very important in my sculptural and design work. Whether they’re wild pronounced curves that describe a form from nature, or the subtle doming across a surface that just removes the flatness, I feel very comfortable with curves. I don’t think I stress it too much. Curves simply have to look right, and when things need to be perfect, or consistent, there is a process of planned manoeuvres and steps to achieve it.

Fox and vessel parts completed prior to assembly.

What sort of hand tools do you carve with – powered or non-powered, or both?
I utilise all types of tools when carving, powered and non-powered, but it is always a process of roughing out the general shapes and then slowly refining the form. For smaller works, I use the bandsaw to block out a defined profile from which to carve. I love the bandsaw. I can easily cut things out the way I draw them and quickly create dynamic forms by cutting the adjacent profile. It’s all about quick removal of waste.

When there are internal areas to the profile, I generally use a drill press with various sized bits to remove the bulk, and immediately clean up with gouges, chisels, rasps, and files. Once I’ve established a clear profile image, generally I draw in various depth and location markers, and begin roughing out material, removing major areas with a gouge and mini angle-grinder.

When it comes to refining the forms and surfaces, I move to finer files and needle files, more chisels and gouges, carving knife, scrapers, and possible hand-sanding.

On larger works, I don’t mind having to start out the roughing process with a chainsaw, and then a large carving gouge and angle grinder, before I get to more refined shaping stages with more hand tools. The point is, I enjoy all types of wood removal. I mostly think about efficiency and accuracy.

The transition areas around the frame joins were left proud for later shaping.

What’s your attitude to machinery and technology?
My attitude is simple: use the right tool for the job, or the goal. I appreciate and support it all, in their different contexts. In the industrial setting, for example, I have witnessed and run incredible CNC and automated production machinery, and that makes sense in that context. But I am not a production woodworker and automation is not my goal.

I stick with traditional standard woodworking practices, which I consider to be a combination of technical hand tool and machine use, prior to the digital age.

My personal studio houses all the standard industrial machinery plus my precision hand tools and measuring instrument. I love the engineering and physics behind these machines and enjoy the physical aspects of setting up for each cut and manually running material through the blades.

For the same reasons, I love hand tools, shaping with them, sharpening them, cutting joinery by hand, and teaching hand tool use. Proficiency with hand tools is pure joy.

I’ve found that I am generally more interested in innovative works created by technical masters of traditions, than by works that rely on new/digital technologies. As far as new technologies go, I am not much of a computer or tech person, so CNC woodworking, for example, has not appealed or come naturally to my personal practice. If I had grown up in another time I may feel differently about it all.

Showing the bench underframe grid structure. The transition of each join was shaped with files, scrapers and sanding.

What are you trying to say with your work?
My combined passion for the natural world and art from ancient and indigenous cultures, merges with a clean contemporary aesthetic and unique utilitarian design solutions, to create fun bold imagery that is fresh, playful, and contemplative. With universally accessible imagery, I’m hoping to convey that the objects we love and use have the potential to inspire story in each of us.

Process photos: Rex Kalehoff

Learn more about Rex Kalehoff @rexkalehoff at www.rexkalehoff.com