Pechman's furniture is, if I may vastly simplify, retro with a modern twist. A twist of his personality, that is. The influence of 1950s designers such as Rietveld and Le Corbusier and contemporary designers like Frank Gehry is admittedly important to Pechman, but let us not be lulled into thinking that he owes all of his creativity to the past. Pechman follows his nose, modeling his chairs, tables, lamps, and shelves off of anything from predatory plants to buoys. His motto is "form from form." "No matter what," he says, "I am taking a material and removing it from its original state to create a new form."

Pechman's acknowledgement of the nature of his materials allows him to use them to the best effect. Rather than imposing his idea upon the wood or metal or plastic, he works with the media to generate forms that accentuate the natural beauty within. That's a common phrase nowadays, it's true. "Natural beauty" can be found anywhere from Ikea to Pier One to Target. The current industry has located it in practically everything, from rubber to concrete. The ability to not only locate but also to use that beauty is, however, found in only a few. Needless to say, Pechman is one of them. He shows the material to its best advantage by refining it to the utmost. This may sound a bit oxymoronic, but it is an aesthetic that works nonetheless. Machine, man, and nature collide - what else could this be but an echo of the current state of affairs all across the world?

Well, that is probably taking his work to a level Pechman didn't really anticipate. Although I personally love to make large leaps and connections like that, it might be getting away (just a bit, mind) from what the pieces really are: lovely, comfortable, practical furniture. Pechman is incredibly intrigued by the idea of modular furniture. I watched as he changed a rather plain shelf into a neat coffee table. It rolls easily into place along the wall, but when you need some extra table space (or, heck, just want to rearrange the room) you've got it.

Pechman calls it "owning your own space." He thinks that people get set into patterns of living that aren't generated by their own wants, but by what they can buy. What would you put in your living room? Chairs, shelves, tables, a television, maybe some plants. Most people would not try to create their own space. Instead, they would browse store aisles or magazines and buy what others think everyone should have. It's a standard and once you've set it, it's awfully hard to change. You have large pieces of expensive somethings that only have one use. Having bought them, you don't want to be getting rid of them anytime soon. You're locked into a space not entirely of your own making. Pechman wants to change that by creating furniture with multiple uses, enabling your living space to be dynamic instead of static.

Pechman is a designer who wears many hats, literally and figuratively, although I speak mainly of the various tasks to which he has put his hand and not the navy blue bowler he wore when I met him for coffee and art-talk. Having seen his furniture, and knowing that he made all of those chairs, tables, bookcases, and lamps by hand, I was amazed that he had time to work on anything else. He does, I suspect, partly because he is an artist by trade and by living, one of the few young artists I have met who is able to pay the bills solely through his art.

Aside from building furniture, Pechman creates music. Guitars, amps, and other musical equipment that I have no name for are clustered all over his living space. Walking through it, you can't get away from either his furniture or his music. Neither can he, as it turns out. "Both [my music and design] suffer without the other," he said. "It's necessary to have both in my head - it's a lifestyle."

When he's not working in the shop, he's in the studio or at the drawing board. Pechman has also designed children's toys and other products. He told me that sometime soon Target should be putting a few of his designs on the shelves in the back-to-school product aisle. I wanted to try to pick them out. He laughed, giving me a lopsided grin. "If you can do that, I'll be amazed. They're not much like my designs here." I think what he meant was that they're more institutional and less individual. I find it hard to believe, however, that at least some of his personality doesn't show through, and as far as I can tell that's all to the good. The industry needs a few quirks and more flexibility; look in the future for Pechman to give them some.

- Amanda Vail, knotmag.com