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Denis Milovanov (COXA): The Sculptural Power of Solid Oak
Reading time: 5mn
Brutalist Poetry
Denis Milovanov, of the COXA Workshop, creates hand-carved solid oak furniture poised between Russian craftsmanship and contemporary design. His work holds a singular appeal for interior architects, decorators and collectors of artist-designed furniture. Discover his work and his vision of vernacular furniture from northern Russia in our April editorial.
Introduction
In the world of contemporary furniture, Denis Milovanov occupies a place of his own. His work in solid oak, carved by hand, gives rise to pieces that belong as much to the realm of furniture as to that of sculpture. Tables, benches, consoles, cabinets and seating all share the same material intensity, the same visual density, the same ability to assert their presence within an interior. For interior architects and decorators, this furniture offers a rare answer to one of today’s central concerns: how to find pieces capable of structuring a space without slipping into mere decoration.
Born in Moscow in 1975, Denis Milovanov trained in woodworking from an early age. His world draws on the vernacular architecture of northern Russia, on old timber buildings, restrained volumes and the memory of wooden frameworks weathered by time. This lineage is far from incidental. It can be read in the strength of his lines, in the gravity of his forms, and in his singular way of turning solid wood furniture into a true element of interior architecture.
Wood in His Veins
What immediately sets his pieces apart is his treatment of the material itself. Denis Milovanov works primarily in oak, often selected from fallen trees or trees that have naturally declined. The wood is carved with tools that preserve the trace of the gesture, then treated according to traditional methods, notably with hot linseed oil, which enhances its durability and gives it that deep patina, at times almost charred, that has become one of the hallmarks of his furniture.
An Enduring Vision
SOHA Workshop (COXA), founded by Denis Milovanov, extends this vision through furniture conceived to last, where the restraint of the forms brings out the quality of the oak and the precision of the hand. This is no doubt where the singularity of his work resides. It speaks directly to the sensibilities shaping today’s interior design world: a taste for sculptural furniture, a renewed interest in solid wood, a search for pieces that are more tactile and more enduring, yet never feel as though they are following a trend. His work belongs elsewhere, to a longer, denser and more exacting sense of time.
Sculptural Furniture
A piece by Denis Milovanov does not merely complete a décor. It gives it a centre of gravity. A carved oak console, a massive table or a brutalist bench introduces into a space a calm, almost primitive presence, one that enters naturally into dialogue with mineral surfaces, textured walls, deep textiles or highly pared-back architecture.
A Rare Presence
For those seeking artist-designed furniture capable of anchoring an interior, Denis Milovanov offers far more than a style. He offers a material, a presence, a way of allowing time to enter the room. That is what gives his furniture its rare quality: it feels at once ancient, contemporary and necessary.