As a young girl, furniture designer Christina Hilborne was once fascinated by a contractor and his tools while the bathroom of the family home received a facelift.

Then in university, she built a rough but serviceable recycling bin and found it far more enjoyable to work on than her English degree. And so her passion was born – the process of creating functional art with her hands. A pre-apprenticeship program at BCIT led to a job in a cabinet shop and after hours she produced her own furniture projects.

Hilborne also attended workshops in Colorado and a collaborative artists’ event in Saskatchewan. Then landed in Newfoundland where she learned metal smithing and mould making. Settling in Victoria, Hilborne’s desire for the art and design took over reason and financial concern – like many artists.

Concrete formed around metal and conscious materials such as Kirei board (pressed byproducts of grain crops) are the mediums she shapes into furnishings that suit her conscious construction.