Full Grown
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BIOGRAPHY
Full Grown have been acquired by San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, the Dresden Museum of Decorative Arts, and Manchester Metropolitan University. Exhibition highlights include the UK Pavilion at the Beijing Horticultural Expo, Saint-Étienne Design Biennale (2024), display of the Edwardes Chair at Masterly Milano Dutch Pavilion (2024), Garden Exhibitions in Helsinki and Rotterdam (2024–2025), and a collaboration with Louis Vuitton for their Chelsea in Bloom presentation in New York (2024). Their work has been covered by The Guardian, Vice, Design Week, Architectural Digest, International Business Times, MIT Technology Review, among others.
Perhaps best described as botanical craftsmen, Full Grown employ ancient techniques to grow their tree-chairs, manipulating a bough’s directions of growth through custom frames and grafting together new furniture forms in the live tree. They integrate the artistic and romantic into the scientific, and urge us to reconsider the way we produce our everyday objects. These carbon sink grown sculptures are functional, beautiful objets d’art.“Sometimes you see a collection which makes you feel like there is hope for the world. Full Grown has that collection. Made with so much love and knowledge about nature. An asset to the world.”- Nicole Uniquole, Curator Dutch Pavilion, Salone del Mobile, Milano 2018
The first seed of Full Grown was sown when as a young boy playing in the garden, Gavin noticed an overgrown bonsai tree had the distinct appearance of a chair. It was an image that stayed in his mind for 25 years. After studying Art at Chesterfield, Furniture Design at Leeds Becket University and a stint with a London Design Studio, Gavin worked as an apprentice to a traditional cabinet-maker before travelling to Scotland to build a replica Saxon Barn and after this, to California to build eco-houses and furniture using sustainable materials. Gavin founded Full Grown during 2006 and has built the business from scratch. His invaluable experience over the past 12 years has made him a leading expert in the expanding field of bio-design, developing new techniques and experimental approaches. Gavin runs Full Grown with Alice Munro. -
WORKS
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Full GrownRJ Garner Chair - Sculpture, 2024Salix viminalis (Willow) -
Full GrownThe Gatti Chair (Bronze), 2024Bronze
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Full GrownThe Long Stripe Chair, 2021Salix viminalis (Willow)
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Full GrownThe Storm Chair, 2016Osier Willow - Salix viminalis
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Full GrownThe Goodall Chair, 2021Salix viminalis (Willow)
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Full GrownThe Trumpet Chair / The Cassandra, 2023Salix viminalis (Willow)
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Full GrownThe Enkidu Hanging Chair, 2023Salix Viminalis (willow)
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Full GrownRover, 2024Willow
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Installation Shots
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STORIES
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Full Grown in Elle Decoration, (March 2025)
March 1, 2025'Each chair embodies the value of waiting and the rewards of sustainable practices. Our work reminds us that true craftsmanship is worth the time, and offers an antidote to disposable-design... -
Full Grown at Garden Futures: Designing with Nature, Nieuwe Instituut
November 15, 2024The Beatrix Chair, now part of the Nieuwe Instituut 's Garden Future s exhibition, is a one-of-a-kind piece grown from ash—our first and most promising species. Named after Beatrix Potter,... -
Sitting on the art
Given its intimacy with the body and deep play on form and function, furniture is a ripely ambiguous artform of its own.
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