What makes a designer or a maker choose to create an object from scratch? Home: Made 20 is an exhibition of new works by early career designers and makers that presents the breadth of furniture, homewares and jewellery being created in Australia today.
The act of creation, of actualising a three-dimensional form, starts with an idea. Faced with the seemingly infinite possibilities of creating something from nothing, designers and makers take inspiration from a huge variety of sources. Home: Made 20 is an exhibition of new works by emerging designers and makers that shows the diversity of creative practice and the imaginative power of young creatives.
Decolonising history is a driving force for the work of Indigenous women Jenna Lee (Larrakia, Wardaman and Karajarri) and Krystal Hurst (Worimi). Jenna Lee’s Story Carriers are woven vessels made from the pages of a book and bound with red thread that symbolises the retrospective addition of First Nations authority to the pages of books “in the same way in which red pen is used to correct and edit documents prior to publishing,” explains the artist. Jeweller Krystal Hurst’s work also explores themes of resilience and power. Resilience is a necklace with imitation echidna quills and wattle seeds made from bronze metal. It was created in response to the attempt to hide and remove First Nations perspectives from Australian history.
Culture, Country and storytelling are behind the work of three Indigenous textile designers, Eunice Napanangka Jack (Ngaanyatjarra), Mavis Nampitjinpa Marks (Luritja and Pintupi) and Keturah Zimran (Luritja and Pintupi). Created in collaboration with Ikuntji Artists and screen printed by Publisher Textiles and Papers, these designs are deeply linked to the landscape. Eunice Napanangka Jack’s textiles depicts her father’s Tjukurrpa (Dreaming) and show the country at Kuruyultu near Tjukurrla in Western Australia – a deep waterhole in a small mountain range. For Keturah Zimran, the natural rock formations (puli) found in and around Haasts Bluff 230km west of Alice Springs are her inspiration. And Mavis Nampitjinpa Marks’s work is inspired by women’s Ceremonial Dancing at Mt Liebig, depicting body painting, as well as the story given to her by her grandfather of Kalipinpa the Water Dreaming.
Australia’s landscape and unique flora and fauna are also the inspiration for non-Indigenous jewellery artists Danielle Barrie, Samantha Dennis and Zoe Grigoris. Danielle Barrie’s fascination with nature was heightened during the COVID-19 lockdown, when she found herself retreating to nature and spending time to notice details “from lichen on tree branches to geometric cactus growth”. Her work Wistful Small Earrings is inspired by the complexity of the wisteria plant. For Zoe Grigoris, the patterns of flowers and other plants are pressed into a sheet of precious metal, creating a subtle effect informed by illustration. And Samantha Dennis’s work focuses on insects rather than plants. Coleoptera is a series of oversized bugs cast in porcelain, hand detailed, fired and glazed and then pierced with sterling silver oxidised to resemble a dark underbelly.
Timothy Robertson’s Lande Chair brings forms inspired by Australian flora to his design, whose curved shell form is reminiscent of Mid-Century modernist chairs. Colours selected for the moulded leather are brown and green also reflecting the colours of nature.
From the universality of landscape to the whimsical. Minqi Gu is a jewellery and small object designer whose work cannot be bound by one material or technique. Her curious approach playfully embraces failure, while exploring concepts of cultural difference, consumerism and health. Bold in colour and form, her work is light-hearted and defies definition. Cloud is made from copper, steel, string and enamel paint – a necklace with a simple almost cartoonish shape that will certainly put a smile on your face.
Similarly playful is the work of Kazu Quill, whose prototype for a modular self-massage chair features a square seat with round red leather insert and red balls on sticks inserted into the chair to act as part chair back and part back massager – these can be moved around at whim. Reminiscent of the works of Memphis and the postmodernist period in furniture design, the result is not so much a functional massage chair as a playful interactive interrogation of a chair.
From the playful to the functional, Rene Linssen’s design for a Sola coffee table with recessed shelf is a tweak on a universal form that allows it to be utilised in a new way. With two contrasting materials – steel and marble – and simple geometries, the table is made interesting by an interactive element – a marble disc can act as a tabletop but, when removed, reveals a recessed shelf for placing drinks.
Calum Hurley’s #3 Chair001 was inspired not by its use, but by a trip to Japan. Captivated by the Japanese architecture and urban landscapes, Calum took thousands of photos and then chose six as inspiration for his stool, made of powder-coated steel, jesmonite (an eco lightweight substitute for cast concrete) and hand-spun woollen upholstery.
Still in furniture design, two beautiful objects in wood show there is still significant passion for this basic yet universal material. Jordan Leeflang’s #3 Loft Chair is made using jigs and templates to create a series of repeatable elements, creating angles, folds and joins for the luscious walnut wood of the chair. Likewise, Chi Yusuf’s desk is another love letter to walnut – this time the timber is combined with black leather to create a luxurious object for the home. The shape of the legs inspired by tree branches, give the desk and chair their name – Branch.
Also interested in materials in new furniture design is Scott Van Tuil and Chloe Goldsmith. Scott Van Tuil’s ‘Turbine bowl’ table is inspired by Tasmania’s engineering history. This pieces is a reference to Hydro Engineering with its sharp form and mirror finish stainless steel construction. Chloe Goldsmith’s plant pots are inspired by the materiality of architecture rather than engineering. And it is the use of that favourite material of architects – terrazzo – that brings these objects from the architectural scale down to the level of an object.
Kristin Burgham and Peta Berghofer, both ceramicists, also use materials as an important starting point in their work. Kirstin collects found objects and uses their forms to create a cast – the objects that are then made using this cast create a simulacrum of the original, complete with seams and scars of their prior life. Peta’s work also subverts expectations in ceramics, starting with traditional ceramic forms and disrupting their functionality to explore the line between art and craft.
For Madisyn Zabel, materials are also vital – this time glass. She plays with shifting geometries, perception and illusion, creating objects whose forms are inspired by the shapes created when viewing a simple wire-frame cube from a number of different oblique angles.
Australians are opening their homes up to contemporary craft and design like never before – original handmade pieces bring with them stories, authentic materiality and pride in the local. This story of what inspires a designer or maker to create is ultimately what makes an object resonate with us, forging a personal connection borne from a single kernel of inspiration.
Penny Craswell
Sydney-based editor, writer and curator specialising in design and architecture