Stian Korntved Ruud is an applied artist living in Norway. Through his innate fascination of how products are made and put together, he has always experimented, destroyed, modified and repaired the objects around him. He is now focusing on materials natural and enforced properties, designing and making objects with pure functional or aesthetic features.
What was the inspiration for your Steinbeisser pieces?
Shapes dictated by how the tree growth direction. After making one spoon everyday for a year (daily spoon project) that ended up in a cardboard box in a museum basement somewhere without anyone testing them, it was a great inspiration to know that the Steinbeisser pieces are going to be used to eat with.
Describe your work in 3 words!
Curious. Exploratory. Craft-conscious.
What kind of materials do you use and where do you get them from?
Most of the wood I use is gathered locally around Oslo, but also from around the world when I travel.
Which conscious lifestyle choices are you making and are you considering any new ones?
Trying to listen to nature as much as possible.
What have you rebelled against in the past, and what are you rebelling against now?
I’ve probably never been interested in rebellion as a clear opposition, but more in drifting away from established paths. Earlier, that meant moving away from standardized production and fixed ideas of what an instrument or object should be. I was drawn to processes where the material and the act of making could lead, rather than a predefined result. Now, I think I’m still resisting the same things, but in a quieter way. There’s a constant pressure towards efficiency, clarity, and recognisable outcomes, especially within contemporary craft and art contexts. I find myself pushing against that by allowing things to remain uncertain, slow, and sometimes unresolved. It’s less about rejecting something specific, and more about making space for other ways of working and thinking.