Australian Wood Review – September 2019

70 Australian Wood Review

PROFILE

architecture, he is a firm believer that the way you live should

inform structures and not the other way around.

Just as furniture should provide function in a modern

context it can also tell stories about the interests, attitudes

and influences of the maker and also the person it is made

for. Bryan’s star map tables reflect his own interest in

astronomy, however clients can commission CNC mapped

inlaid brass ‘constellations’ that pinpoint memorable

moments in their own lives.

Collaborations with Gurindji artist Sarrita King have

produced two tables that combine Bryan’s interest in

astronomy with Sarrita’s cultural heritage. Both their Ancestors

coffee table and My Country’s Story dining table reference of

Indigenous dreamtime stories with inlaid brass ‘dot-paintings’.

Even more local is a recent commission that incorporates a

World War II shell casing that now holds up the customised

end of one of Bryan’s signature Pinch Benches, a tribute to

local history made for a client. And there are other influences

that manifest as stories told in his designs. A commission

for a celebrity chef involved reusing ironbark cladding from

a fitout to be replaced. Getting to know Shane Delia, Bryan

developed his minimal brief to incorporate ‘a little bit of bling’

which took the form of a Morse code inlay in the resulting

Dot Dot Dash dining table he made.

A bespoke maker needs to be a bit of a psychologist at times

to give a client what they want Bryan intimated. ‘Rather than

telling clients how they ought to live, a really good maker

understands how a client lives and how to make it better.’

Photos: Bryan Cush

Learn more about Bryan Cush at http://www.sawdustbureau.com

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8. Bryan’s Vino bench is ‘a matrix
   of cantilevered dowels’ which
   serve to store wine.
   Photo: Northside Studio


9. Tetromino cabinet in spotted
   gum and eucalypt functions
   as shelving, media or
   whiskey cabinet.
   Photo: Northside Studio


10. The Pinch Boom bench
    features a World War II shell

casing, as a tribute

to local history.

Photo: Northside Studio

11. Bryan Cush using the tablesaw,

his favourite machine.

Photo: Northside Studio

12. The Parasite side table,
    made of plywood plays
    with notions of balance
    and solid construction.
    Photo: Bryan Cush