Meet the Maker: Sullivan Walsh, Maker Of Gorgeous Beds

“Anyone could think up the designs and build these things, but we are the people who actually DID it.
It’s the people who DO things, and MAKE things, and bring their own wacky shit into the world that inspire me.”

Sullivan Walsh, Brooklyn metalworker and artisan

Salvaged gears for lamp and mirror bases

I recently met artisan Sullivan Walsh at a friend’s book signing at a new, cute boutique called Shag (Link NSFW). Walsh told me he was a metalworker who lived in Brooklyn. I love architecture, metalwork and woodwork, so we chatted for a minute and exchanged business cards. The next day he sent me an email and a link to his website. As soon as I clicked it, I was all “Wooooaaaaah, must go visit his studio and check out his stuff!”

I’m going to be highlighting more local businesses and cool people who make stuff on this site. I love Brooklyn and I’m constantly meeting the coolest, most talented people. Hopefully, you’ll dig my interviews with them and support these folks and their work/art. Walsh is someone who exemplifies what Seth Godin is writing about in his new book Linchpin, so I’m really happy he’s the first local artist I have the honor to introduce.

My friend and fellow food writer, Jennifer Iannolo, came with me for a visit to Walsh’s studio over the weekend. His space is located in a historic industrial loft in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. Even though Walsh’s space is a work-in-progress, he was a gracious host and provided wine glasses, a bottle opener and a lovely spread of olive oil, delectable cheeses, bread, wine and French press coffee. It was a delightful day.

A view from the unfinished living space into the downstairs

Below is a short Q&A I did with Walsh about his work, along with some photos from our day checking out his art and poking around his loft. You can view the whole photo set by clicking here or by clicking any of the photos below.

Seven Questions with Sullivan Walsh

Q) How did you get your start in metalwork?

A) I always enjoyed building things even as a kid, from tree houses to snow forts. When I was at Pratt [an architecture, art and design institute in Brooklyn], studying architecture, I started taking some electives such as woodworking, metal shop, ceramics, and bronze casting, all of which I absolutely loved.

It became clear to me that I was much happier working with my own hands and building things than toiling at a drafting table.

The artist and his mirror - an elevator wheel is the base

I later started working as a studio assistant for an artist named Jon Kessler. At one point, Jon was going to Paris, and an artist from the same gallery he was in, Luhring-Augustine, was coming to New York to use Jon’s studio. He needed welding done, so Jon taught me how to weld in about 15 minutes. It’s actually really easy when you have the right equipment. I describe welding as like using a really, really, really, really really hot glue gun.

I also became a certified scuba diver diver around then, and went on to work on a ship that was docked at the South Street Seaport. That was kind of interesting because when you’re working on a floating ship, you can’t use a level or a plumb as a reference, so you have to eyeball everything.

After that, I worked as a finish carpenter. All this time, I just wanted to be building my own designs, and in 1996, I formed my own company, Walsh Metalworks.

Q) What kind of formal training did you do, or are you mainly self-taught?

A) No real formal training. Learned a lot through construction about tools and materials, and just kind of refined my skills through different projects.

Q) What other artists/artisans inspire you?

A) I wouldn’t name any “famous”  artists as my inspiration. I think the people that I want to emulate are those who just care about the finished product, as well as the process. People who made armor that is just so intricate and beautiful, or stone carvers that work on cathedrals that won’t be finished during their lifetime blow me away.

Or people who take something that we all know one way, and put a new twist on it that makes you say “Wow, that is SO clever”, are the  people that I love meeting and talking to.

My lamps are sold at VOOS home in Williamsburg, and they have a Friday night salon for their designers. An artist named Susan Woods was saying that it’s such a great gathering, because anyone could think up the designs and build these things, but we are the people who actually DID it. It’s the people who DO things, and MAKE things, and bring their own wacky shit into the world that inspire me.

“I’m trying to add a little elegance to the world. Which is how the sleigh bed came about. There was just nothing like it out there, not even close, so I dreamed the fucker up and I built it.”

The most gorgeous sleigh bed you will ever see

Q) Why do you make the sorts of works you make? What inspires you?

A) I make the things I do for different reasons. The lamps I’ve been making are my attempts at clever reincarnations of things from the past into objects people can take into their future. It’s so sad to see my neighborhood, Williamsburg, being torn down and thrown away for some of the ugliest, poorly constructed buildings I’ve seen. I think the gears I make these lamps with are beautiful, and deserve another life.

Gears and Cuffs

My bracelets/cuffs I make so that people who might have a bit of a kinky streak can look totally hot in everyday life, and yet give a subtle sign to others who might be of the same mindset that “Yeah, I LOVE getting tied up!” And so much of the BDSM gear is just SO fucking tacky. I’m trying to add a little elegance to the world.

Which is how the sleigh bed came about. There was just nothing like it out there, not even close, so I dreamed the fucker up and I built it. I’m just trying to add my own unique, elegant version of things to the world.

Q) What’s your favorite part of your work?

A) My favorite part of the work is when I finish a piece, because I always struggle with and stress over design decisions, so when I’m done, it means I think it’s the best solution to what I’m trying to do. And when I build something, like the bed, and someone sees it and just gets it, it makes it all worthwhile.

And when a photographer and a model use my stuff to make amazing images, I love it. And when a hot fucking woman like Emily Cavalier is lying on my bed and imagining one of the zillion ways that the bed could be used, it makes me so happy. [Ed: That answer is unedited.]

Hold that thought. (Mirror and bed both by Walsh.)

Q) What’s the back story on the building where your studio is located?

A) I work and live in The Esquire Building, which used to be The Esquire Boot Polish Factory. My friend Stephanie Eisenberg bought it at a city auction in in 1982, and couldn’t get a construction loan to renovate it until 2000. She’s another person who inspires me, because of her persistence and determination.

If you ever see photos of Ebbet’s Field, where the Brooklyn Dodgers used to play, there’s a big sign for Esquire Boot Polish on the outfield fence. Our building is also referred to as the “Save Domino” and “Vote Obama” building, because of the signage we’ve had on it in big red letters.

Q) What’s next for your work and your art?

A) Short term goals: Do a photo shoot with photographer Ellen Von Unwerth (Link NSFW) and designer Alexander McQueen and my bed, or with the next Ellen Von Unwerth and Alexander McQueen and my bed.

Long term goals: Just keep doing what I’m doing, and meeting with and collaborating with people who want some hot, elegant, sexy furniture. Or who want to come over and play on it!

***

Walsh’s wrist and ankle cuffs and neck collars can be special ordered through Shag. Folks interested in commissioning lamps, mirrors, tables, beds and other custom metalwork, can contact him via his website here.

[Note: Photographers/models/other artisans: Walsh's studio is a gorgeous space and he loves having photographers and models use it for shoots. Please contact him directly if you're interested in using it. The light/space connection there is amazing.]

Music for this post: Dirty Picture – Taio Cruz f. Ke$ha