Trunk Studio blends the clean lines of the Danish Modern furniture tradition with a new Canadian aesthetic. Designer Jess Tasker works with Nova Scotian woodshops to ensure her designs transition seamlessly from paper to their functional form. Her designs are inspired by Canadian culture and landscape, while also incorporating aspects of her Danish ancestry. Trunk Studio was accepted into the Studio North section of the Interior Design Show (IDS 2013) where the Station Chair, Scout Side Table and Toque Wall Rack made their debut on the Canadian and International design scenes. Trunk has garnered publicity nationally and internationally, including Design Milk, Qatar Airlines' Oryx Magazine, Canada AM, The Toronto Star and NOW Magazine among others.
Designs are subtle, yet creative as she plays with angles and mixes wood species. Pieces must be aesthetically pleasing but also functional and long-lasting. Much like hand-stitched quilts, the character shines through in the details. In other words, the patterns put on display by the wood grain and the design elements engaged. By working with small woodshops to produce her furniture, she is able to insure that pieces are built to a high standard of quality. Trunk Studio pieces are essentially functional works of art.
About the Designer
Jess Tasker grew up attending the nationally acclaimed Claude Watson School for the Arts in Toronto. At Havergal College she began to develop her Canadian aesthetic via her graduation studies in Inuit Art. While at university she wrote her thesis on the importance of design in the Olympic Games and minored in fine art. Her continued fascination with home & design magazines encouraged her to constantly examine her own design sense. She began putting her ideas on paper and was encouraged by the small structures that began forming. Post-University she pursued a career as a carpenter’s apprentice that would allow her to work firsthand with creating and restoring structures.
Furniture presented Jess with the perfect combination of function and design. The lessons learned in carpentry help her design furniture using traditional and modern joinery. Eventually Jess felt it was time to bring her designs to the rest of the world via her furniture firm Trunk Studio. Jess' influences include Canadian culture & landscape, as well as the Danish Modern furniture tradition. Her favourite artists & designers include Jens Risom, Thomas Moser, Bettie Cott, Ted Harrison and Lawren Harris. She currently calls Halifax home after falling in love with Nova Scotia's people, land and culture during university.
