Spacial Fiction

My current body of work investigates different chair forms. I explore questions of function, non-function, and meaning by manipulating everyday furniture. I often work with objects that have been discarded and am interested in creating an honest dialogue with the original identity of the salvaged item. Furniture sets rules for interaction and use; it can transform a space into a room of purposeful action. I enjoy rewriting the script of these ubiquitous objects and creating a surreal likeness for viewers to pause and reflect on.

As a woodworker, using existing furniture pieces and parts rather than raw material is permission to slow down, use hand tools, and engage traditional techniques. I respect furniture craft tradition, but simultaneously challenge myself to work irreverently. My process often involves entirely dismantling a found chair, but I preserve its original history as I rebuild and transform. In the same instant I destroy the original object, I also honor and value it.

About the Artist

Peter Scheidt’s concept-driven studio practice is grounded in the craft of furniture making and woodworking. Scheidt investigates the boundaries of functional objects, transforming found furniture into thought-provoking sculptures. Rewriting scripts of familiar objects, he creates surreal and uncanny forms that invite reflection on function, non-function, and meaning. The original identities of his salvaged materials are never erased but instead become integral to an open dialogue between object, artist, and. viewer.

Beyond his studio practice, Scheidt has engaged in social practice with “Kurbside Spoons” a bicycle-based woodshop for carving spoons from discarded furniture. He often shares his craft through lectures, artist talks, and demonstrations and previously taught professional development courses for Little Rock Public School District educators.

Scheidt holds an MFA in Furniture Design and Woodworking from San Diego State University and a BA from Brown University. His work has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including the Wharton Esherick Museum (PA), Space4Art (CA), SooVAC (MN), St. Louis Artist’s Guild (MO), and Sulfur Studios (GA). He is currently Assistant Professor of Wood + Material Studies at Iowa State University. Scheidt previously taught at the University of Arkansas Little Rock, where he started and managed an urban wood reuse program.