Straight Razors

My interest in recreating these straight razors is diverse. My interest comes from a long attraction to the smooth, sleek, style of these razors, which reflects the styling of custom cars of the 50's and 60's.

I use straight razors for shaving, which takes time and practice. These razors are made to celebrate the mundane activities in our daily routine, slowing down in our fast paced lives, adding quality to life and finding ways to enjoy these typically redundant and necessary activities.

They also speak to our disposable society. Rather than viewing ecological lifestyle choices as hampering our existing way of life, they can be seen as a way to have fun and challenge ourselves to find interesting ways to lessen our impact on the environment. I can use one straight razor for the rest of my life. This equals zero packaging and zero garbage, not to mention shaving cream cans; a bar of soap is all I need.

I find these razors in second hand shops and enjoy looking for the right ones. I buy used razors with good blades and damaged handles, so as to not ruin a good razor. The handles (scales) I create are formed with hammering techniques, hollow constructed and riveted together. The process of taking the time to cut out and hammer the form of each razor is important to me, each one is unique. They could be pressed or die cut and all be the same but I enjoy this process, producing individual one of a kind razors.