Career
Foundational to the studio woodturning movement, Mel Lindquist applied his master machinist techniques and background in engineering, pioneering hollowing techniques called "blind boring", or "blind turning", widely used today. The effect was widespread according to Fine Woodworking: "..Melvin and Mark Lindquist unleashed spalted wood upon the world.." In addition to his numerous technical innovations, Mel Lindquist is also widely credited for developing an aesthetic foundation for the studio woodturning movement based on translating ancient ceramic ideals into the medium of wood, incorporating bark inclusions and imperfections as decorative elements within the turning integral to design. Lindquist signed his work with a simple script "L" including the date and type of wood from the early 1950s until 1980.
After 1980 he signed his work with an incised script signature "Mel Lindquist" on the bottoms of his pieces.
Mel Lindquist"s work can be found in numerous public and private collections in the United States and abroad, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington District of Columbia, the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Texas, and the White House Collection of American Crafts.