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"People are often surprised that Ty Best, the \u00ADdesigner behind the avant-garde furnishings of Caste, lives and works in Missoula, Montana. That&amp;#039;s the way he likes it. &amp;quot;The people who live there don&amp;#039;t understand what I do,&amp;quot; he says, &amp;quot;and the people who understand what I do, don&amp;#039;t understand why I do it there. It&amp;#039;s this tension that makes my designs work.&amp;quot; The rugged terrain of his home state is one of the many disparate influences he draws on for his powerful yet refined pieces, which are available nationwide through Holly Hunt. Best studied fashion design in California, where he met artist Malcolm Hill and began assisting him on elaborate and fantastical window displays for Barneys. &amp;quot;I cut my teeth in a big, fabulous environment,&amp;quot; says Best, &amp;quot;and it pushed me to have my own point of view.&amp;quot; Inspired by Hill&amp;#039;s creative process, he took up painting and sculpture, which led to furniture design. He then moved back to Montana and met a woodworker who taught him &amp;quot;what a jointer and a planer were,&amp;quot; he says. The designer aims to incorporate his daily surroundings into his work. &amp;quot;I get inspired by elements in nature, whether ice formations or the erosion of a rock,&amp;quot; he says. &amp;quot;The daunting Montana landscape has a lot to do with the shapes of my \u00ADpieces.&amp;quot; The delicate Bridger side table has tapered legs like stylized stalactites; the massive Chouteau dining table has a smooth top that evokes the still waters of a lake. Nodding to his career in fashion, Best designed the sculptural prongs of the Flint lamp collection to reference 1930s French jewelry. Best anticipates that his forthcoming designs will become even more &amp;quot;nuanced and tricky,&amp;quot; citing a Balenciaga-esque bench currently in the works that&amp;#039;s &amp;quot;like the latest and greatest handbag,&amp;quot; he says. &amp;quot;I have a sense of pride when I create something so special that it makes people stop in wonder.&amp;quot; Click here to see the gallery for &amp;quot;Nature Boy.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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