Spacecraft

Q&A with Todd Isaacs of Spacecraft


Where did you grow up? How did it influence you?

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, in the forests and farms of Eagle Creek, Troutdale, and Clackamas. My family built a homestead in Goldendale, Washington. Our life was hand to mouth and handmade. Growing up as one of eight children, homeschooled and close to the land, was isolating and led me to develop a rich fantasy life.


What’s the most prized object you own? Why?

When I was 11, I found a surplus machete buried under the dander near our cabin on the Sandy River. It has the manufacture date 1942 inscribed on it. It’s been in my possession ever since, and I doubt I’ll ever need another. Its utility is timeless—the opposite of disposable.


In a world overflowing with objects, why continue making new things?

Minimalism is something to strive for. I’m a bit of a packrat, but I try to live with fewer, better things. I hope the objects I make are worth the space they take up and are genuinely useful. I work with materials that have a backstory and try to make things that are beautiful, funny, or sometimes both.


What’s your favorite material to work with and why?

Wood. It’s a primordial material with a vigorous past life, and it carries that history into the work.


If you designed a chair describing your relationship with your father, what would it look like?

A canoe.


Tell us about something that inspires you.

My mother’s great uncle was a farm worker in Mapleton, Oregon. He was deaf, didn’t speak, and lived a solitary life. Using fruitwood prunings, he made carved and painted figures—animals, people, and fantasy creatures. They vibrate with an energy that’s hard to describe, like psychic DNA or terroir.


Any advice for young designers?

One of my art school professors, whose work I admire, once said the secret to being an artist is just to “be an artist.” It’s funny, but it stuck, and it’s my personal rallying cry that I use whenever I need to get to work.


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