John Eric Byers is an artist/designer/craftsman who works exclusively with wood. The wood medium to Byers is like clay to a potter; he transforms the material through exceptional care and thoroughness, hand-tooling the surface and creating something completely unique. His works succeed due to somewhat of a contradiction. While the forms are strikingly geometric and minimal, they are contrasted with the superb craftsmanship and intricacy he brings to the material's outer surface. As noted by Grace Glueck in the New York Times, "The carved, patterned surfaces add considerable interest to his simplified forms, as does his exquisite attention to detail." A former student of Wendell Castle, John's work is guided by purity of form, structure and surface texture, as well as a great respect for the materials he works with.
John Eric Byers is an American artist with works in the permanent collections of the Museum of Arts and Design in New York and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. Numerous awards include the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award and inclusion in the Smithsonian's Archives of American Arts.
