Matthew Von Sturmer

Matthew von Sturmer is a renowned New Zealand designer and craftsperson. Born in 1967, he began his creative career as a contemporary jeweller in the late 1980s. By the 90s von Sturmer was crafting a range of decorative objects and architectural fittings from copper, bronze, brass, and aluminium.

In 1990 Matthew designed and crafted his first chair, consisting of a three-legged, skeletal frame in aluminium, with a wooden back and leather seat. In 1991 he produced a version of this chair with a resin backrest filled with pāua shells called the ‘Fluke’ chair. This chair is now in the permanent collection of Te Papa Tongarewa.

Much of the imagery in von Sturmer's work relates to New Zealand's place in the Pacific, and his own love of fishing and the sea. His method of working testifies, however, to his belief that "The value of a piece depends on the equality between the idea, materials and (fabrication) process.”

Von Sturmer describes his work as "very process oriented", and believes it is essential to retain control over every stage of production. "If I worked purely as a designer it wouldn't work," he says. "There are subtleties at each stage which would be lost, were I not involved in the fabrication and finishing of a piece."

He is interested in transferring the special qualities of a handcrafted or artistic object into small-scale production. "An object carries information that is transferred to it from its maker. A lot of objects have had that element negated, and they end up being banal, because there has not been a single person with complete control over their production”.

Career highlights include working as a lead artist with Warren and Mahoney and Peter Boyd on the MIT Manukau and Transport Interchange. A project with Tara Iti (golf club) across four years on our bronze hardware. Collaborating with a Japanese architectural company on a boutique hotel and sending some handles away for a Paul Smith shop in Berlin.

When he’s not designing, Matthew enjoys spending time on the water, either surfing or fly fishing. His work is inspired by the harsh lines of the landscape, patterns in the sand, currents in the water, and textures of Waiheke Island, where he currently lives.

Sources:
- 1990 article by Debra Millar
- Urbis article ‘Island Metal’ by Camille Khouri