{"id":416398,"date":"2024-03-29T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-29T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.1stdibs.com\/blogs\/the-study\/?p=416398"},"modified":"2024-05-20T13:53:32","modified_gmt":"2024-05-20T17:53:32","slug":"female-lighting-and-furniture-designers-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.1stdibs.com\/blogs\/the-study\/female-lighting-and-furniture-designers-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"These Accomplished Female Makers Have a Penchant for Offbeat Organic Designs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Clockwise
Clockwise from left: Ayala Serfaty Adaptation light sculpture, new<\/a>; Niamh Barry Artist’s Hand light sculpture, new<\/a>; Ayala Serfaty Shastool Rustin, new<\/a>; Elsa Foulon Narcisse large mirror, new<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Is there something uniquely womanly about the work of female designers and makers? Contemplating the accomplishments of these five lauded talents \u2014 work that spans furniture<\/a>, lighting<\/a>, ceramics<\/a> and more \u2014 one would have to say, well, maybe . . . yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without exception, these international artists use curves to great advantage. Note Irish designer Niamh Barry<\/a>\u2019s twisting bronze<\/a> light sculptures; the varied output of Victoria Yakusha<\/a>\u2019s company, Faina<\/a>, which gives a Ukrainian<\/a> twist to organic modernism<\/a> in a wide range of decorative objects; the sensuous felted fiber pieces and otherworldly lighting produced in Ayala Serfaty<\/a>\u2019s Tel Aviv studio; the cloud-like ceramic vases of Danish designer Louise Roe<\/a>; and the graceful free-form shapes of Paris-based Elsa Foulon<\/a>\u2019s mirrors and luminaires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s nothing hard-edged, brutalist<\/a> or monolithic here. The work is tactile and approachable, bearing the mark of the human hand \u2014 even when industrial processes are involved \u2014 and, more importantly, informed by the heart. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Niamh Barry<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"Niamh<\/a>
Niamh Barry On It Goes suspended light sculpture, 2018<\/a>. Photo by Nigel Swann<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Niamh Barry<\/a> works with bronze but, more than that, with light. She\u2019s been creating sculptural lighting<\/a> of bent, rolled, welded and hammered bronze since graduating from Dublin\u2019s National College of Art and Design<\/a> in 1991, gaining recognition in more recent years as a pioneer in the use of LEDs and, by the way, as something of an Irish national treasure.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Furniture<\/a>
Barry takes a seat on her Ghost bench<\/a>. Her Shouldering table<\/a> is in the background. Photo by Nigel Swann<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Barry\u2019s work can be ethereal, like her delicate-looking suspended light sculptures On It Goes<\/a> and Propulsion<\/a> \u2014 more air than solid form, the coils and links like line drawings rendered in metal. It can also be dark, muscular and assertive, like the patinated-bronze Blackscape<\/a>, a grouping of elemental boat-like shapes. \u201cBronze can take on many guises,\u201d Barry says, \u201cfrom a molten, flowing, mirror-polish fluidity to a dead, flat, dark form of strength and gravitas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her ideas come from \u201calways looking at everything, all the time,\u201d she says. \u201cIt can be a monumental Richard Serra<\/a> sculpture or a leaf on the ground. It all goes into the mind, percolates through and feeds my design language.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Furniture<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Niamh<\/a><\/figure>\n
Left: Barry ponders her What If Everything Is Not Linear? light sculpture<\/a>. Right: Her Standing light sculpture<\/a> is more than seven feet tall. Photos by Nigel Swann<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Forms begin with a sketch, then progress through computer modeling, evolving further in her countryside studio. \u201cI collaborate with a wonderfully skilled team of craftspeople, using a combination of cutting-edge technology and age-old metalworking skills,\u201d she says. \u201cThe work itself is a continuum of constantly exploring and teasing out. One thing leads to another in an organic and intuitive way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Victoria Yakusha<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"Victoria<\/a>
Victoria Yakusha<\/a>\u2019s small<\/a> and large<\/a> ceramic Bandura vases adorn her Pechyvo cabinet<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Victoria Yakusha<\/a>\u2019s main mission is to promote Ukrainian design to the wider world. In 2014, she launched her distinctive Faina (\u201cBeauty\u201d) brand of furniture<\/a>, lighting<\/a> and accessories<\/a> based on Ukrainian folk craft and traditions to do just that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her designs are informed by her sensibilities as a contemporary architect trained in Ukraine and Paris, but also by a childhood spent in Ukraine\u2019s rural Donetsk region, climbing trees, swimming in ponds and herding goats. \u201cI appreciate minimalism, but I want it to feel alive,\u201d Yakusha says of her work. That is evident in Faina\u2019s appealing wares, including chairs<\/a>, wicker lamps<\/a> and woven wall hangings<\/a>, as well as ceramic vases<\/a> with forms inspired by traditional festive pottery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Furniture<\/a>
Yakusha’s brand, Faina<\/a>, is rooted in Ukrainian history and traditions. The Domna chair<\/a> is inspired by ancient Venus sculptures found in the region. Photo by Babeth Albert<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Everything is made by local artisans using regional materials and historical techniques. \u201cOur tapestries are made in Lviv and our vases by local ceramists using Ukrainian clay,\u201d Yakusha says. \u201cIt\u2019s important to us to preserve and pass on traditional craftsmanship.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Victoria<\/a>
The designer\u2019s one-leg<\/a> and long-neck<\/a> Kumanec vases top her Ztista oval table<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Faina even developed its own sustainable material, <\/em>Ztista, a moldable dough made of recycled metal, cellulose, wood chips and clay. The result: a highly textured, organic look, consistent with her brand, that complements Yakusha\u2019s unusual shapes. \u201cThe shapes I create are typically archetypal and uncommon. I hesitate to use the word unique<\/em>,” Yakusha says, \u201cbut they’re certainly not ordinary.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ayala Serfaty<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\"Ayala<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Ayala<\/a><\/figure>\n
Ayala Serfaty Once III table lamp, 2023<\/a> (left), and Shastool in dark green and plum, new<\/a> (right). Photos courtesy of Maison Gerard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ayala Serfaty<\/a>\u2019s hand-tufted felt furnishings<\/a> and lighting pieces<\/a> of woven glass look like things you might encounter in an enchanted forest or underwater cave \u2014 hitherto unknown shapes that dazzle as they challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After training as a painter at Jerusalem\u2019s prestigious Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design<\/a>, Serfaty worked as a prop builder for theater and film. Her career in design began with an aha moment in the mid 1980s, while she was snorkeling in the Red Sea. \u201cI imagined if coral was soft, it could be a chair<\/a>. I left the water and immediately started drawing,\u201d Serfaty recalls. For two years, she worked in isolation. \u201cI made a point of not studying other designers. I wanted to find my own way and be truly authentic.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Furniture<\/a>
Serfaty trained as a painter and worked as a prop maker for theatrical productions before turning to furniture design. Photo by Elad Sarig<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Serfaty\u2019s unconventional work, which is in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art<\/a> in New York and the Mus\u00e9e des Arts d\u00e9coratifs<\/a> in Paris, among others, is driven by materiality, she says. Most recently, she\u2019s been exploring bronze, combining it with 3D-printing technology to create the Janus series of coffee tables, named after the two-faced Roman god of beginnings, transitions and endings. <\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Ayala<\/a>
Ayala Serfaty Janus coffee table, new<\/a>. Photo courtesy of Maison Gerard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cEventually, I found a way to realize lace in bronze,\u201d Serfaty says, describing the effect she achieved in the Janus pieces. \u201cIt\u2019s the latest manifestation of my ongoing research into natural structure and organic abstraction.\u201d She sees the collection as an extension of her acclaimed Rapa fiber-art seating pieces<\/a> and inspired Soma series of glass and polymer light sculptures<\/a> \u2014 \u201cancient materials used in a new way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Louise Roe<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"Louise<\/a>
Louise Roe Balloon bowl 06, new<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Copenhagen-based Louise Roe<\/a> thinks of each of her many collections \u2014 which comprise vases<\/a>, furniture<\/a>, lighting<\/a>, tableware, glassware, rugs and more \u2014 as a \u201cfamily,\u201d she says. Every piece has its own character but is related to the others, able to stand alone or as part of a group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have an eye for the Bauhaus<\/a> period, and my aesthetic is architectural,\u201d Roe says of the brand\u2019s clean-lined designs. \u201cMuch of my inspiration derives from geometric shapes. But it extends beyond mere simplicity. It\u2019s akin to cooking, all about the harmony of elements, each contributing to a distinctive energy when combined.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Louise<\/a><\/figure>\n
Right: Roe formerly worked in the fashion<\/a> industry and sees fashion and interiors as closely related (portrait courtesy of Louise Roe). Left: Her Balloon vase 02<\/a> shares a tabletop with her Eight Over Eight lamp<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Trained as a fashion designer, Roe leveraged her fashion<\/a>-industry production experience to found her own design company, in 2010, manufacturing a vast array of pieces with intriguingly original shapes in Denmark, Portugal and elsewhere in Europe. Her well-known Balloon vases, available in a range of soft colors, are distinguished by rounded, convex forms and matte finishes. The Eight Over Eight table lamp<\/a> is so called because its octagonal fabric shade tops an eight-sided base of smooth marble. <\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Louise<\/a>
Louise Roe Funki 1<\/a> (left, on bottom) and Funki 2<\/a> tables, new<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Roe\u2019s process begins not on a computer, as so many of today\u2019s product designs do, but with wax. \u201cI enjoy making small wax models,\u201d she says. \u201cThis hands-on approach gives me a quick way of visualizing ideas and evaluating proportions in 3D, making it easier to comprehend the potential of a prototype. While I don\u2019t physically produce the final product \u2014 our immensely skilled craftspeople do \u2014 I love to immerse myself in the tactile experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Elsa Foulon<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"A<\/a>
Elsa Foulon Antigone pendant lamps, new<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Paris-based Elsa Foulon<\/a> has been honing her eye for decorative arts<\/a> all her still-young life, first as the daughter of an antiques<\/a> dealer and then as one herself, with a speciality in 20th-century design<\/a>. Her technical and artistic skills remained dormant until she decided to pick up a pencil and start sketching. \u201cI taught myself the profession of designer and the practice of ceramics,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Furniture<\/a>
A self-taught designer, Foulon creates ceramic lighting and mirrors in her Paris workshop. Photo courtesy of Elsa Foulon Studio<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Three years ago, she set up a studio. \u201cIt came naturally for me to specialize in lighting,” she explains. “I like to give a physical form, a receptacle, to the immaterial radiation of light.\u201d Inspiration came partly from the work of \u00c9mile Gall\u00e9<\/a> and Ren\u00e9 Lalique<\/a>, master glass<\/a> and lighting makers of the Art Deco<\/a> era. \u201cIt was at the beginning of the 20th century that lighting fixtures acquired the status of art<\/a>,\u201d Foulon points out. Ingo Maurer<\/a>, the German industrial designer who led the field of lighting design into the 21st century<\/a>, also sparked her creativity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foulon developed her own technique to produce free-form pendants and sconces of ceramic and brass<\/a>, which emit light softly from the discreet curves of their pure sculptural forms, along with floor lamps, table lamps and mirrors. The assuredness and refinement of Foulon\u2019s designs belie the newness of her venture. \u201cBeing self-taught offers me great freedom,\u201d she says. \u201cI invent my own rules.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Elsa<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Elsa<\/a><\/figure>\n
Elsa Foulon Aphrodyte mirror, new<\/a> (left), and Nautile II floor lamp, new<\/a> (right)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

All production is by her own hand in her Paris workshop, in one-offs or very limited editions. \u201cI am touched to imagine my creations having lives elsewhere,\u201d Foulon says. \u201cI imagine a warm family dinner under two Antigone pendants<\/a>, overlooked by the glow.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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