Mario Lopez Torres Furniture
In the mountains of Mexico, furniture designer and master weaver Mario Lopez Torres works with locally sourced organic materials to painstakingly craft complex and elegant decorative objects, tables and seating.
Originally from Mexico City, Torres apprenticed for his father, who was a professional photographer, and at 13 years old enrolled in a school for the fine arts, as he had by then become deeply interested in illustration and working with clay. At 20, Torres pursued a dream of designing furniture — specifically, weaving. He traveled to Altepexi, a municipality in Puebla, to learn how its artisans wove works from a wooden vegetable reed that is native to the region.
Torres sought mentorship from the prevalent artists Ana Pellicer and James Metcalf in order to learn how to work with metal, as he would need to create frames of brass and copper that supported his woven structures. Torres traveled to the United States to purchase metalworking equipment and went on to establish his own workshop in a small mountain village back in Mexico.
Torres put his hands and imagination to work — he harvested courses of chuspata, which is a reed that grows abundantly on the shores of Lake Pátzcuaro in Michoacán, and welded frames that the reed is woven around. He sold his first piece of furniture in 1974.
Today, Torres creates works that are characterized by his affinity for nature. His palm floor lamps feature woven rattan — a light and versatile material that can mingle with a wide range of styles — while the lifelike monkeys, birds and other animals that support his tables, table lamps or adorn his mirror frames are crafted from chuspata and take on whimsical poses. They create a playful, provocative presence in any space.
Find Mario Lopez Torres seating, lighting and decorative objects on 1stDibs.
2010s Mexican Mario Lopez Torres Furniture
Steel
2010s Mexican Mario Lopez Torres Furniture
Steel
2010s Mexican Mario Lopez Torres Furniture
Steel
2010s Mexican Mario Lopez Torres Furniture
Steel, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Finnish Mid-Century Modern Mario Lopez Torres Furniture
Brass
2010s French Mid-Century Modern Mario Lopez Torres Furniture
Rattan
21st Century and Contemporary Mario Lopez Torres Furniture
Bamboo
21st Century and Contemporary Philippine Mid-Century Modern Mario Lopez Torres Furniture
Rattan
21st Century and Contemporary French Scandinavian Modern Mario Lopez Torres Furniture
Rattan, Mirror
21st Century and Contemporary European Modern Mario Lopez Torres Furniture
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Greek Modern Mario Lopez Torres Furniture
Brass
2010s British Organic Modern Mario Lopez Torres Furniture
Mirror
21st Century and Contemporary Mexican Organic Modern Mario Lopez Torres Furniture
Reed
2010s French Mid-Century Modern Mario Lopez Torres Furniture
Rattan
2010s French Mid-Century Modern Mario Lopez Torres Furniture
Bamboo
Late 20th Century Modern Mario Lopez Torres Furniture
Metal, Brass