A cabinet by Jānis Straupe as a metamorphosis

Jānis Straupe has been working with wood for over 35 years. The artisan-designer, a member of the Latvian Artists’ Union since 1990 and the Latvian Designers’ Union since 2009, has made a name for himself designing sculptural objects and custom-made furniture. A graduate of the woodcarving department at the Riga School of Arts and Crafts (now the Riga School of Design and Art) during the Soviet era, he went on to hone his craft under the guidance of woodcarver Jānis Poļaks. He then joined the Māksla (Art) collective, which carried out major commissions for the interior design of public buildings. In 1998, Straupe founded his own woodworking business, which at one point employed up to eight people, before scaling back to a smaller team with whom he creates his furniture. Described by Straupe