A moody photograph of a blackwood cabinet sits in front of a timber rack in a dark workshop.
A moody photograph of a blackwood cabinet sits in front of a timber rack in a dark workshop.
A moody photograph of a blackwood cabinet sits in front of a timber rack in a dark workshop.
A moody photograph of a blackwood cabinet sits in front of a timber rack in a dark workshop.
A moody photograph of a blackwood cabinet sits in front of a timber rack in a dark workshop.
A moody photograph of a blackwood cabinet sits in front of a timber rack in a dark workshop.
A moody photograph of a blackwood cabinet sits in front of a timber rack in a dark workshop.
A moody photograph of a blackwood cabinet sits in front of a timber rack in a dark workshop.
A moody photograph of a blackwood cabinet sits in front of a timber rack in a dark workshop.
A moody photograph of a blackwood cabinet sits in front of a timber rack in a dark workshop.
A moody photograph of a blackwood cabinet sits in front of a timber rack in a dark workshop.
A moody photograph of a blackwood cabinet sits in front of a timber rack in a dark workshop.
A moody photograph of a blackwood cabinet sits in front of a timber rack in a dark workshop.
A moody photograph of a blackwood cabinet sits in front of a timber rack in a dark workshop.
A moody photograph of a blackwood cabinet sits in front of a timber rack in a dark workshop.
A moody photograph of a blackwood cabinet sits in front of a timber rack in a dark workshop.
A moody photograph of a blackwood cabinet sits in front of a timber rack in a dark workshop.
A moody photograph of a blackwood cabinet sits in front of a timber rack in a dark workshop.

Parachilna Cabinet

$35,970.00 incl GST Guide Price Only

“The Parachilna Cabinet reacts to changes in light the way the Australian landscape changes with the movement of the sun throughout the day.” – Evan Dunstone

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Over my 30-year career, I’ve been striving to design furniture that reflects the subtle grandeur of Australian landscapes. I’ve always been moved by the way light plays over our arid regions and mountains. The “first” design in this family of work was Riverstones 2, with its curved ends, eyeline handles and fluted door panels. Then came  Mutawintji with banded fluting that caught the light and played with shadow. Then the more subdued fluting on the doors of the Allen Cabinet showed how light reacts dynamically on shallow vertical fluted panels.

The Parachilna cabinet combines all these elements to create a piece that spontaneously reacts to changing light. The shadow play has exceeded my expectations. Front on, in full daylight, the subtle fluting on the door panels almost disappears. Under artificial light, or strong slanted light, they suddenly pop out. The vertical banding is always visible and catches the eye, but again it changes with the light.

Parachilna is a remnant town in South Australia, with the Flinders Ranges to the East and the Ediacaran fossil beds to the West. The town’s name is from the Aboriginal patajilnda, meaning “place of peppermint gum trees”. The highlight of modern Parachilna is the wonderful Prairie Hotel. The fluting on this piece, and the way the light reacts with it, reminds me of the many moods of the Flinders Rangers. When the sun is directly overhead Parachilna Gorge, the ridges look stark and the definition is lost. As the sun moves to the West, shadows formed by the many gullies and fissures appear, transforming the landscape. The Ediacaran fossil beds hold the oldest fossils yet found on earth. They were discovered in 1947 when geologist Reg Sprigg saw strange shadows on the rock surface late in the day as the sun set.

Workshop manager Alex MacFarlane brought the missing piece to the puzzle. I had been making the fluted door panels (such as those on the Allen cabinet) with an inserted strip of timber. I thought the subtle difference in the inserted strip would enhance the effect.  Alex came up with a technique to carve the fluting directly from panels. This actually increased the illusion, as the flutes are almost invisible front-on in full light, but dramatic when seen from an angle, or with slanted light. Layers of surprise!

We made two Parachilna cabinets, one for the commissioning client, and one for our gallery. Alex did all the work, and to my mind, this is his masterpiece. It reflects his twenty-year journey as a maker of uncompromising integrity. Parachilna 2 is luscious.

As usual, team member Aditi Sargeant took these beautiful images of the Parachilna cabinets.

Parachilna 2 is available for purchase from our gallery.

Dimensions: 1230mm L x 950mm H x 480mm D.

Timber Types: Blackwood, rock maple and wenge (pictured). Other timbers POA.

Weight 40 kg
Dimensions 123 × 48 × 95 cm

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