Lin’s love affair with carpentry started about a decade ago. Now aged 37, she designs and creates a wide range of household items from couches to coasters. Surrounded by her four cats, she works from her high-ceilinged YIH Wood Studio in New Taipei City’s Sanxia District.
“I’ve followed quite a convoluted path to get to where I am today. I studied veterinary medicine at National Taiwan University [in Taipei City], but quit in the third year because I didn’t like dissecting animals. So, I switched to fashion design and got my bachelor’s degree in 2008 from the University of the Arts London. For a couple of years after that, I worked as a designer for various apparel companies in Taiwan, but my bosses were quite controlling. Around that time, I started developing a passion for carpentry, so I took classes on and off for about a year and a half at places like Huai De Ju Woodworking School. I loved the experience of creating things with my hands.
A grant from the Ministry of Culture’s [MOC] Fulfilling Dreams Project allowed me to open my studio in 2014. The initiative aims to encourage entrepreneurs working in the cultural and creative industry. I used the money to renovate my rental studio and buy machinery and I loved the fact that I had the freedom to make all my own decisions such as the studio’s design and the layout of the equipment. Setting up my own workshop opened up so many possibilities for me. Before that, I’d been working at a carpentry factory in Guanyin [a district in northern Taiwan’s Taoyuan City] for about a year and I’d had to follow all my boss’s orders. He told me how to make each piece and I didn’t like feeling so restricted.
I design and create furniture according to my customers’ requirements, but I also produce pieces based on my own ideas. Some people say my work is Scandinavian in style, but I think it’s not as minimalist. I add more details and occasionally use different varieties of wood to give a richness in color. It’s time-consuming, but I love it.
The most unforgettable moment of my career so far is when I had my own booth at Creative Expo Taiwan [an MOC-organized international event held every year in Taipei] in April 2015. That was the first time I was able to put my pieces on public display. Since then, I’ve been invited to take part in the expo every year and it’s now one of the major channels through which I promote my work.
(Photo by Chin Hung-hao)
As a carpenter, I haven’t often felt like I’ve been discriminated against because I’m a woman. Actually it’s sometimes an advantage being a woman in a field dominated by men. Media outlets want to interview me precisely because of my gender and that’s helped me promote my work to the public.
That said, I think quite a few female carpenters have encountered obstacles trying to start their careers. Male employers still prefer to recruit men. My former boss in Guanyin was a man. He hired me because he was desperately short-staffed. By the time I left, I was one of 10 carpenters and I was still the only woman.
When I started my own business, my neighbor assumed I was a furniture designer. I didn’t bother to correct him. Even though later he realized I was actually a carpenter, he hasn’t been able to change his habit of calling me a designer.
While it’s less common these days, sometimes recruitment advertisements for carpenters still stipulate ‘men only.’ I think the fact I’ve opened this studio should encourage other women wanting to take up the craft. I’m sure they feel they’d have a better chance of getting a position if the boss was a woman. But I don’t discriminate against men or women when I hire. I choose the best person for the job. Perhaps that makes me different from male bosses. I’ve hired four full-time employees: two men and two women. For different reasons they’ve left their jobs and I’ve been working alone since last spring. I’m planning to up production of some of my more recent designs, so I’m going to be hiring again soon.
If you ask me what my proudest accomplishment is, I’d say my 2017 Golden Pin Design Award [an annual contest organized by the government-supported Taiwan Design Center] in the product design category for a three-legged stool. Last year, the National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute certified one of my nightstands as a Taiwan Good Craft. I’m very happy that all my hard work has paid off.”
—interview by Oscar Chung
Write to Oscar Chung at mhchung@mofa.gov.tw