My name is Rick Rubens. When I started creating unusual furniture from recycled materials I never dreamt it would lead to a full time career; least of all that I’d become an artist. Although I had to be persuaded that my work is art. Despite being creative all my life, having never studied in a creative field I could never come to terms with saying “I’m an artist”. I still find it difficult.
When I reached forty, a new adventure beckoned. My wife, Juliane, was born in New Zealand, so down-under seemed like a great idea. Fancying a change from cars, I became a rural internet providers sales and marketing manager. Fast forward to 2011, after completing the renovation of our house and large garden in New Zealand, I decided to throw myself behind my passion in a creative career. Rick Rubens Recreations was born, and I haven’t had to do a day’s work since. As Confucius said, “choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life!”
Recreation
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ll my pieces are unique. They’re one-offs using predominately reclaimed materials, leather to steel and most important of all, wood. When referring to reclaimed materials, this will often mean an existing piece of furniture (which I call the ‘canvas’) from yesteryear, but not always. Some creations are a combination of several separate pieces of furniture, whilst other works are made from materials that have never been furniture before. My fervour for recycling started back in 1978 when the UK’s refuse collectors went on strike for a month. Council sites soon became temporary unmanned transfer stations and people took advantage of this. Dumping unwanted furniture, ranging from old record players to cabinets; a future ‘upcycler’s’ dream come true. In my early teens, I acquired three pallets; I took one
apart using the planks to fill the gaps in the tops of the other two. I then positioned them in my bedroom covering them with reclaimed shaggy white rugs to form a split level floor effect - very 1970s. Furniture redesigning soon followed as with the 1950s sideboard for my first flat in 1988, below. After leaving school at 16 in the UK, I studied engineering for three years. Although successfully graduating, I felt engineering wasn’t for me, and after completing a retail management course I managed a shoe shop. I then moved on to new car sales for a family owned franchise dealership for the best part of two decades. In this time I still continued to do what I loved, renovating and furnishing houses. I particularly enjoyed designing and project managing the build of our own house.
My first piece for home in 1988 with tools stored in it. I had this up until recently, pictured here in 2013
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The New Zealand Artist Magazine
What I love most about using old furniture and reclaimed materials, is the transformation from something that is unloved, often dull to look at and in some cases destined for land fill. I use a variety of different materials, oak, mahogany, pine, rimu, plywood, angle iron, aluminium, leather, vinyl, paint, wood stains, furniture wax and decorative wax, rope, fabric….to name a few. I believe in sustainability and reusing materials wherever possible. Wood is definitely my favourite material; a plain old piece of wood or an old bedframe can be made into something quite special. It can take on so many different appearances, has so many uses, can be easily recycled and given a brand new life. Working with real wood is a pleasure and very rewarding; being super tactile, it’s great to run your hands over a well finished piece. With some of my work you can still recognise the basic outline of the original ‘canvas’, whereas with others, the origins have completely disappeared and are unrecognisable. If I’m using an existing
The E-type Entertainment Cabinet.
Working on The E-type Entertainment Cabinet.
A home project…The Gallery Spa created from 80% recycled materials. The New Zealand Artist Magazine
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