Alphonse Mattia
Big Mirror, 1993

Material: Carved, glaze colored and painted Mahogany, Natural Pauammarillo, Mirror Glass, Aluminum

A large-scale mirror, aptly titled “Big Mirror” by American studio craft master and educator Alphonse Mattia. In this postmodern form, Mattia playfully invigorates the convention of the mirror by adding sculptural, referential components along with whimsical, dynamic compositional elements.

The mirror’s structure references two brush forms – a paintbrush along the left hand vertical and a hairbrush, with immaculately carved bristles, along the bottom horizontal.

“After achieving his BFA at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia in 1969, Fonse moved to Providence for his MFA in Industrial design at RISD ​’73. There, he met and married Rosanne Somerson. They settled in Westport MA, raising two daughters Annie and Isabel. Rosanne and Alphonse taught Furniture Design at RISD for many years, and remained friends after their divorce. They established Smoke­stack Studios in Fall River, MA with dear friends Charlie Swanson and Eck Follen. Rosanne and Charlie were both with him on his final day.

Throughout his professional career, Alphonse influenced countless students and colleagues. In 1973 he began teaching at Virginia Commonwealth University, moving to Boston University in 1976 where he was instrumental in the establishment of the hugely influential Boston University Program in Artisanry, which eventually became the Swain School of Design, and later moved into the art department at UMass Dart­mouth. The bulk of his teaching career was at RISD, followed by Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He also taught at preeminent craft schools including Haystack, Penland, Peter’s Valley, and Anderson Ranch. His students describe him as a brilliant, funny, and kind professor who pushed them past their preconceptions to find their unique voices.

Alphonse could trans­form wood into his wildest imaginings. His whimsical, funny, and sometimes irreverent work has been shown across the globe and is held in collections and museums including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Museum of Art and Design in Manhattan, The MFA Boston, The Yale University Art collection, The Smithsonian Museum, The Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, and The RISD Museum. He is considered a pioneering and defining voice of the American Studio Furniture movement.” (The Furniture Society)