"Chaos Shelf"

Cosmo Barbaro

"God is in the details!"

Beauty and elegance are goals that Cosmo Barbaro tries to attain with each new design. The work has a classic feel that is influenced in part by art deco and his everyday experiences in life. He unconsciously digests visual information from nature and man-made items. Inspiration is derived from observations in nature, the color of a particular humming bird, or the texture of a seashell.

The techniques vary from piece to piece, each of which may incorporate hand-shaped elements, hand-cut joiner, i.e., dovetails, mortise-and-tenon construction, veneering, bending, inlay, hand texturing/carving, cove cutting, upholstery techniques, milk painting, and other various finishing techniques. Each design calls for a specific set of techniques that Barbaro has developed throughout his career.

Barbaro holds an M.F.A. in furniture design from the Rochester Institute of Technology and a B.F.A. in woodworking from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. In 2006 he was commissioned by a designer in Upstate New York to build two Steinway Art Case Pianos for Steinway and Sons.