Samson Wang credits his eponymous firm’s success to his multicultural approach. Growing up in Beijing, he moved to Canada in 2009 when he was 21 years old to attend Canadore College’s aircraft repair and maintenance program. But a lifelong interest in woodworking imbued in him by his grandfather, who was a carpenter, eventually steered him toward a career in furniture design. “I fell in love with wood and was influenced by his work ethic,” Wang says.
In 2015, he resigned from his job fixing planes in Burlington, Ontario, and four years later, graduated from Sheridan College with a degree in craft and design. That same year, he started Samson Furniture Design in Mississauga, Ontario and began crafting pieces that draw inspiration from traditional Chinese ink painting and calligraphy.
“Being a bicultural individual has helped me become a versatile designer,” says Wang. “My perspective on furniture design was formed by my Western education, though I manifest my Chinese artistic view on contemporary furniture.” This is especially evident in some of his most recent designs. The Yan coffee table (shown below), for instance, directly references a Chinese inkstone used for calligraphy writing, with a tabletop featuring a wood pattern that mimics the characteristics of ink. “Chinese culture is so rich and elegant,” Wang adds. “My [goal] is to reflect the essence of our culture on large-scale objects.” Similarly, the Ink side table interprets the lily pads and lotus flowers found in the landscape of Jiangan, China, with a ripple effect on the surface that evokes how water interacts with a flower stem and a blackened surface to reflect its namesake.
Though his shop was closed for several months and many of his projects delayed when COVID-19 hit North America, Wang is now back up and running, his creative mind at work on commissions, along with a new dining chair he expects to prototype this year. “I am very good at making stuff with my hands,” he says, “and I am very proud of myself being a maker and a designer.”
Wang’s Yan coffee table
Photos courtesy of Samson Wang
This article originally appeared in HD’s 2020 Product Marketplace issue.
