Jason Koharik: Turning vintage junk into design
Koharik’s prototype for the Geometric lamp made with seeded glass sells for $550. “It can be used as a table lamp or a pendant,†the designer says, “and I also like to use them on the floor to fill dark corners of a room.†(Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Jason Koharik, 35, has been gathering and improving upon vintage designer furniture as well as trash-day found objects for more than 15 years. He has filled an industrial space at 1745 Glendale Blvd. for an exhibition titled “Collected By,†which runs Nov. 6 to 14.
Koharik’s Skeleton chair ($1,250) was crafted from a beat-up metal frame that he powder-coated in white. He added more steel rods, hand-shaped oak arms and ball feet and leather cushions. He transformed a leather horse figurine from the 1920s into a lamp ($1,250 for two) that sits on a one-of-a-kind table made with a piano bench base; the cabinet top is made from scraps of exotic wood that he carved into rounded edges with a knife. In the background, one of Koharik’s “Target†paintings, sold through Lawson Fenning, hangs above a collection of leather-covered bucket chairs. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
“I like to take discarded bucket chairs and cover them in hand-stitched saddle leather,†Koharik says. From left: a school side chair ($850); a chair made from an old table leg and rolling metal base ($750); a leather-clad S chair by Verner Panton ($2,000) on a pine pedestal side table ($250); a bucket chair with white base ($1,250); and a leather-covered Harry Bertoia side chair ($1,000). (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
To the left a vintage Bruno Mathsson Pernilla chair ($3,250) is Koharik’s take on an ottoman, the Sittable ($175 to $300). “They’re old leather duffel bags that I filled with high-density foam, which can be used as a footstool or a place to sit,†he explains. A wood scrap sculpture of a spine titled “Dedicated to Dr. Jeremy†is placed on top of a $500 midcentury table. A Koharik lamp made from salvaged parts ($350) is in front of his painting, “Color Field White Stir Stick Horizontal.†(Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
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Koharik created “Trapper†($2,500), an Op Art-meets-Dada work, using brown box tape on white painted wood. It has a brass-plated vintage animal trap sitting on a neoclassical griffin foot bronze table with a custom marble top ($750). At left, his Target Painting Studio chair ($200), a found midcentury cane and rattan piece, is flecked with colors that Koharik used while painting his series of salvaged tabletops and other round materials. To the right, a rare Arthur Court chair made of tortoiseshell enameled steel ($2,250). (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Named for his childhood home, the Lamson Avenue kitchen stool ($250), left, was a discarded piece reimagined with a walnut leg and aged leather back cushions. “It was tossed out because it was missing a leg, but it reminded me of the one we had in our kitchen by the rotary dial wall phone,†he says. The designer, who worked as production assistant in TV commercials, covered two apple boxes (frequently used on sets) in leather, at right. They cost $350 and $450. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
“The best part about working on commercials wasn’t the money,†Koharik says. “It was the things I got, like lighting stands and apple boxes.†Using scraps of saddle leather and black tacks, the designer transforms apple boxes (on which shorter actors would stand) into ruggedly handsome accent tables. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
On a brass plated Saarinen base, Koharik added a table top made of intricately cut and inlaid pine cones set in resin by Russell Carlson. Around the table are Koharik’s prototype for a French modernist dining chair made of bent tubular steel powder coated in cream white with a brass mesh back and leather seats ($1,650 for a set of four). (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
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Made from reclaimed Douglas fir, Koharik’s hefty trestle dining table is covered in a patchwork of waxed saddle leather. “It can take a spilled wine glass and even live outdoors,â€Koharik says. On the table is a scale model of an Arriflex 2C camera that Koharik made from colored tape he collected from cameramen on commercial shoots. On the wall, “Collected Tape Measures†is a woven assemblage of vintage metal taken from carpenters’ measuring devices. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Koharik disassembled a Thonet coat rack, added porcelain sockets and created the Octo Lamp ($475). “I have a knowledge of vintage designer pieces,†he says. “To get your hands on a perfect one is JF Chen’s job. I find things when people don’t know what they are or when something is wrong and then I work with it to create something new.†(Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Koharik, who spent his teenage years doing maintenance work at the municipal pool in his native Bedford, Ohio, has a keen eye for California outdoor furniture. These 1950s aluminum patio rockers, which traditionally had fiberglass shell seats, got a luxury upgrade with tuck-and-roll leather upholstery and equestrian-style harness straps ($2,500-$2,750). Above them, a wooden and rope sculpture signifying the artist’s birthplace and present home, has a tug-of-war knot that can be adjusted. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Koharik found a carved pine table with a mosaic inlaid top and decided the rough-hewn piece was a lily worth gilding. “I call it the Solid Gold Aztec table, and I gold-leafed it all by hand,†he says. Next to it, a found bent tubular steel chair that Koharik had brass plated and fitted with custom leather slings and cushion ($375). (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
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Koharik’s CollectedBy lighting designs are made from reclaimed tubing and custom brass hardware with spun metal shades. Lawson Fenning carries the range of lamps, which are praised by designers such as Trip Haenisch and Molly Luetkemeyer and start at $650. The fixtures, including the Triple Head Wall sconce that can be seen at the Brite Spot restaurant in Echo Park, reference the sensuous curves of Art Nouveau and the streamlined look and emphasis on function of Modernists such as Serge Mouille and Greta Grossman. Here, a prototype for Koharik’s Tripe Swing Arm Wall Sconce ($1,850) is paired with a vintage peacock wire garden chair with leather seat ($750). (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
A sly sense of humor surfaces in Koharik’s poker table, which has a brass ante bowl in the center, leather and gold-leafed steel inlaid coasters and a leather gun holster hanging under the table top (for dealing with suspected cheaters). The table and five leather upholstered chairs sell for $7,500. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Koharik channeled Jacques Adnet, a designer for Hermès, in lights ($2,250 each) that are made from common photography equipment. He powder-coated C-stands, added gold leaf to the metal hardware and added an equestrian-style canvas-and-leather-trimmed flag diffuser. In the foreground, a chrome and iron chair by midcentury designer Tony Paul has “an insect-like presence,†says Koharik, who took the original chrome and canvas design and plated it in brass, with luxury leather upholstery. The designer updated classic wire chairs by Warren Platner with pearl powder-coating and custom leather and walnut seats. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
