The Natural Room: Gallery Exhibition
THE NATURAL ROOM collection is an approach to living through design that respectfully connects us to the natural world. It aims to create interiors that are of our moment – to focus our thoughts and reflect on our lives - while embodying a long-term vision of how we might live in the future.
The collection is composed of hand crafted contemporary design and art pieces that have been created by individuals, often working with local communities. It involves ethical and emotional decisions to use slow grown, organic materials and skill-based craft. The international artist-designer-makers included in the collection embrace these ideologies of sustainability and conscious sourcing to create beautifully crafted furniture pieces and sculptural objects in materials such as wood, jute, sisal, willow, and stoneware.
Jute and sisal feel like grass between our fingertips, sanded oak like silk, and woven willow crackles under pressure; to stimulate the viewer in ways beyond a purely visual engagement, appealing to an inner need for sensorial invigoration - one that recalls the many pleasures of the natural world. At this moment in time, it feels more pertinent than ever to arrive back at a home which invigorates our senses, calms our minds and connects us to different localities, their makers and communities. Each piece in the collection is imbued with a personality that brings character into our interior spaces. These objects and furniture pieces ask to be treasured as heirlooms in our families over time, instead of falling into the pitfalls and landfills of fast consumerism.
ARKO, Japan - rice straw; Laura Ellen Bacon, UK - willow; Max Bainbridge of Forest + Found, UK - wood; Angela Damman, Mexico - sisal; Alison Dickens, UK - willow; Egeværk, Denmark - wood; Max Frommeld, USA - wood; Luke Fuller, UK - ceramics; Ernst Gamperl, Germany - wood; Joe Hogan, Ireland - willow; Felicity Irons of Rush Matters, UK - rush; Tim Johnson, Spain - natural grasses; Mami Kato, Japan - rice straw; Eleanor Lakelin, UK - wood; Fernando Laposse, Mexico - sisal; Peter Marigold & Tadanori Tozawa, UK/Japan - wood; Cristian Mohaded, Argentina - simbol; Gareth Neal, UK - wood; Michael Peterson, USA - wood; Marcin Rusak, Poland - flowers; Alida Kuzemczak-Sayer, UK - Himalayan paper; Diana Scherer, Netherlands - natural root systems; Domingos Totora, Brazil - recycled cardboard; and Nic Webb, UK - wood.
To read full artist biographs and making images, please see The Natural Room Viewing Room.
