Woodworking in America: Sylvie Rosenthal

Chronosynclastic Infundibulum with Two Forms of Entry
2023
41-1/2 x 11 x 13
Basswood, poplar, paint, mixed media

We’re interviewing makers from across the country. Today we’re featuring Sylvie Rosenthal, an artist and designer from Wisconsin.

How did you get started woodworking? Who were your mentors?

Woodworking found me pretty early in life. When I was five, I started hammering nails into pieces of wood with my grandfather when he would visit. Soon after, I started taking classes at a hands-on children’s museum where we used tools and built things. Around age 9, I was apprenticed to the director of the museum, working three days a week, which I continued until I was 17. For my 10^th birthday, my mom gave me my first drill and jigsaw (7.2 volt Makitas!) and I would build weird things at home, using the tools by myself. It was an amazing education, to learn how to use tools and be feral in a wood shop in those years. There is also a darker side to it, a familiar story, along with being brilliant, my mentor was handsy and mercurial. 

My second woodworking mentor was Doug Sigler, who I worked for after graduating from RIT’s Woodworking + Furniture Design Program. He was professor Emeritus (of that same program) and was building houses in his retirement in western NC. With Doug, I learned how to build a house from the ground up, from framing to kitchen cabinets to handmade doors. Doug was a generous teacher and mentor to myself and to many others, the skills and lessons I learned with him have served me over the years. 

Bear Cabinet (a natural history)
2018
32 x 24 x 84
Mahogany, Pine, Stuffed Bear, Hardware, Finish, wheeled dolly

What do you think is your best or favorite work? What kind of work do you do the most?

Gah! It’s so hard to choose my ‘best’ or favorite work. My favorite kind of work flexes a combination of skills; technical woodworking, creative problem solving, design, and wild imagination. 

My studio produces all kinds of work, we make furniture and interior architectural millwork on commission, mirrors that sell online, I make sculptures for exhibitions and also on commission. I engineer and build projects that fall in between functional furniture, sculpture, and design for local artists. I do and make many different things! I love making kitchen and dining tables, making the objects that people gather around to share time and a meal is a special thing. My kitchen table is my mentor’s kitchen table that he made over 50 years ago. 

Battle Cat (impossible, possible)
2018
90 x 22 x 33
Bass Wood, Steel, Half a Moped, Epoxy, Paint, hardware, rabbit foot,
framed lenticular print

What advice would you give to someone that wants to start woodworking or pursue it as a profession?

Work with and for other woodworkers! I learned so much working for other people, especially Wendy Maruyama and Doug Sigler. 

Untitled (Whale) 2021 66 x 60 x 10 Basswood, poplar, hardware, epoxy, paint

What’s your best hands-on tip or woodworking technique? 

For glue clean up on inside corners: cut a straw diagonally at around 60 degrees, put the pointy end in the corner to remove glue from an inside corner. The excess glue goes into the straw. When the straw tip becomes filled with glue, squeeze the straw out onto waste into a paper towel, and keep going!

Untitled (Whale) in progress.

Is there anyone you’d like to shout-out or recommend we follow? Who inspires you? (Doesn’t have to be woodworking related, either.)

• Tanya Aguiñiga (@tanyaaguiniga), she is an inspiring artist and human doing important work. 
• CERF+ (@cerfplus), the Craft Emergency Relief Fund, is an amazing organization supporting the field in times of need. 
• Shout out to the Tradies of Madison! A sweet group of queer, femme, GNB folx who work in the local trades. 

See more of Sylvie’s work on Instagram @boat_boat and her website.

This interview was lightly edited for clarity.