top of page
MSL B&W.JPG

“Building without passion is like accepting a peck on the cheek as lovemaking.” Mark Levin

Statement

Mark's aesthetic is derived from nature’s small wonders, flowers, leaves, fruit, the occasional vegetable as well as the female form. He masterfully takes these shapes and wraps them in sumptuous curves and graceful currents.

His Story

Mark creates with solid woods for their intrinsic value, virility, and rapidity of execution. The grain and beauty of the wood have little influence during the initial design process. He visualizes new work in matte black and believes that if a piece has a presence draped in black, is executed with deftness and passion then the inner beauty of the wood will take flight.

​

Most of his work is built using the stack lamination process where smaller pieces of wood are glued together to form much larger blocks or "blanks". The stack lamination process provides strength, scale, and endless artistic possibilities. Once the blank is completed, he roughs out the work with chainsaws and automobile disk grinders. As the final form emerges, he tapers to more delicate power tools and finally hand tools to define the details and sumptuous curves.

Training

Mark learned woodworking in junior high school industrial arts and had his first commission, a blanket chest, while a high school senior. At college, he studied under Bobby Falwell, a graduate student of Wendell Castle. Immediately upon graduating college Mark opened his first shop in Evanston, Illinois. In 2012, after a few decades, detours, and zigging when he should have zagged, he set up his current shop in Albuquerque, NM.

Selected Exhibitions & Awards

  • Western Design Exhibition, Jackson Hole, WY, 1st Place Woodworking, 2023

  • Corrales Old Church Show, Corrales, NM, 1st Place Sculpture, 2023, 2022, & 2021

  • Mesa Arts Center, 40th Annual Crafts Exhibition, Mesa, AZ, 2019

  • Custom Woodworking & Design Portfolio, 1st Place Specialty Furniture, Handel Leaf Desk, Chicago, IL, 2013

  • Furniture with Soul, Featured Artist, Devon, England, 2011

  • Cincinnati Art Museum: Outside the Ordinary, Cincinnati, OH 2009

  • Mint Museum, Autumn Leaf Table, Permanent Collection, Charlotte, NC 2007

  • HGTV Modern Masters, Featured Artist, Denver, CO 2006

  • Materials Hard and Soft, Denton, TX 2006 & 2019

  • American Crafts Exhibition, Evanston, IL, 2006

  • Smithsonian Fine Craft Show, Washington D.C., 2005 (Accepted 2006 & 2007 but did not show)

  • SOFA Chicago, Chicago, IL, 2005, 2006, 2008

  • American Crafts Council Show Juror, New York, NY, 2004

  • Marigold Arts, One Man Show, Santa Fe, NM 2002

  • NICHES Award 1st Place Furniture, Baltimore, MD 2002 and 2003

bottom of page