In Focus: Neal Cameron
For our latest edition of In Focus, photographer Olly Geary spent time with Glasgow-based maker and craftsman Neal Cameron in his studio. We first connected with Olly while discussing a potential project together in Paris that ultimately evolved into this feature. Olly suggested Neal whose thoughtful approach to materials, interiors and object making felt closely aligned with In Focus.
Originally from Inverness and now based in Glasgow, Neal works across commissioned interiors and his own independent practice, balancing utility, craftsmanship and a meticulous attention to detail throughout his work.
Photography by Olly Geary
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Andrew: Can you tell us a bit about what you do and how you first got started?
Neal: I am a furniture maker based in Glasgow, working predominantly with wood and metal.
After studying product design at University I was interested in learning how to actually build things - not just designing - so ended up spending some time working in a bronze foundry and some wood workshops, up-skilling in carpentry and metal work. I have now been doing my own practice full time for around 3 years now, working with other creatives on commission based work and also self lead furniture projects. -
A: You studied at the Glasgow School of Art and spent time in places like Cologne and Helsinki. How have those different environments shaped the way you approach your work?
N: I was very blessed to have the chance to study at 3 different universities and I think it was super valuable for gaining a diverse perspective on design, materiality and also ways of thinking creatively. I think the main take away from my time within each institution was the critical and reflexive conversations which continue to steer my making process now. I also think, had I not studied across the pond, I wouldn’t have been encouraged me to explore my own practice in furniture back in the context of Scotland.
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A: Your work seems deeply rooted in material and detail. What tends to catch your attention when beginning a project?
N: I particularly enjoy working with timber and the diversity of smells and grain appearances that come with varying species. I would like to think my approach to making is material driven, where I’m always interested in working with a new process or material.
Averse to this though - budget is often the greatest steer for a creative process at the beginning of a project. It enables you to understand the level of detail or complexity that might take place within a project. A lens in which I have been considering through the work I produce of recent is how to achieve a project of high impact on a set budget through materiality and form: and to achieve this is to understand which is readily available to you and how that can be composed in novel and interesting ways.
One of Neal's signature Hollow Stools.
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A: Your work spans commissioned interiors as well as your own independent objects. How do you balance working for clients while continuing to build something that feels personal to you?
N: Working with clients on commissions is an important part of my practice and It’s highly collaborative from design to delivery. Commission based work feels a lot more person centred to me which I feel design and making should be. Particularly within interiors, I have many conversations about design as an experience - how someone might feel and engage with a space through designing with sensitivity to materiality, form and function.
With projects I have done in the public sphere, it’s rewarding to be able to see how people experience the objects and spaces that I have taken a role in creating, which I'm keen to do more of.
Opposingly, I see self lead projects as space where I can play and try out new ideas which feels very cathartic. I have noticed that this is where I become most excited about making; when there is no brief, and more space for experimentation. Often the ideas created through play will bridge into projects with clients in the future. -
A: You seem to approach things more as a maker than strictly a designer. Do you think there is a difference between the two?
N: The way I think about design has very much become informed by developing my skills as a maker. Through understanding materials properties and making processes, I now consider how an idea can be created in addition to how it might look or function. I have found my design process to become more intuitive and iterative; usually it’s a thought like ‘I wonder how might this detail look or feel?’, which is followed by prototyping the detail and refining how/where this could be applied to. I would say I have a bank of ideas and prototypes which I am looking to apply to projects in the future but ultimately for me, making and designing inform each other in equal parts.
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A: What is one object you would never get rid of?
N: I’m not too sentimental when it comes to things. I think we should use things the way they are intended to be, through time they will gather signs of life through use or change in the way we value them. One object I have had a while and still hold a lot of joy for, would be a pepper mill I have by designer Michael Marriot. It’s shaped like a large bolt which you twist to release the pepper and I just really enjoy the novelty and playfulness of it. Through changing materiality from metal to wood, playing with scale, and creating a new function, you’re given a new perception of an archetypal object. To me it’s quite genius.
