Den Holm: Form Meets Function

Steven John Clark is the maker behind Den Holm; a stone mason and artist living and working in Melbourne, Australia. Originating from Scotland, Clark was traditionally trained as a stone mason before a path through fashion and textile embroidery led him back to his skills with stone design. In a world of bold forms and heavy textures, his creations and objects are free from restrictions, merging the traditional craftsmanship of his formal training in stone carvery and the experimental nature of textile and embroidery.

His work sits somewhere between art, furniture and sculpture, with hand-crafted objects rich in textures and quirky shapes. Steve’s ability to free himself of restrictions has enabled him to create a distinctive aesthetic using varying materials and tools. He manipulates forms and pushing past their function, to make sculptural art and furnitures.

Because of a natural overload of ideas constantly running through his head, Steven works on numerous projects at the same time. This allows him to navigate through different approaches, bridging the gap between the structural process of furniture making and the manic creative side of art. His warehouse studio and workshop located in Melbourne clearly emphasize his work ethos. Full of concrete and wood chip side tables, sand-stone counters, lime stone stumps, concrete triangle shelves, powder-coated polycrete benches and other stone and timber furniture, his many creations vary in sizes from small planters to large-scale pieces of furniture.

Among his functional objects defined by form meets function, Australian limestone seems to play an important role, adding a chalky, white-washed expression with unique characters to each piece. He also creates new agitates combining stone and concrete to create one of a kind designs and sculptures. While Steven John Clark’s raw artistic talent is evident, the scope of his work is as varied as it is original.

All images by Peter Ryle