Canopy: FOG Design + Art: Art Fair

Angela Damman has created a hand-dyed iteration of her Eta pendant, originally displayed in Design Miami 2023. Produced in collaboration with the master craftspeople in Yucatan, Mexico, this piece celebrates the soft textures of the Sansevieria plant fiber and the subtle terracotta natural dye from the bark of the Tzalam tree, local to the region. Angela envisioned a comet-like form in its genesis, naming the piece Eta after a season of meteor showers in the previous spring. The naturally dyed fibers of the pendant will offer subtle warm hues of light between the fibers, as if in the permanent glow of a golden hour.

Studio Amos, with their masterful craftsmanship, brings forth a design that echoes the organic silhouettes found in the depths of a verdant forest. Their beautifully crafted pendant evokes a sense of shelter while celebrating the traditions embedded within basketry and thatching. All the Rye straw has been grown and harvested locally in the South East of England, an element sacred to their practice. The ploughed fields that populate the Orkney Islands in Scotland originally influenced the creation of this lovingly handmade statement pendant. Anne-Marie, of Studio Amos, found herself drawn to the rich heritage of growing and weaving this historical grain on the island, having spent a short residency in the region. Interestingly, the piece also draws on traditional millinery techniques used to create woven bonnets. The materiality and form of the pendant render a sensibility akin to a lovingly crafted nest. Yet its ambiguous scale will majestically envelop any interior, drawing in the atmosphere amid place.

Nic Webb’s characterful pendant is entirely unique and evokes memories of a craggy wood copse. His Oku Pendant, he says, “emphasizes the important consideration and exploration of inner space, both in physical environments and within oneself”. This oak pendant, created from a fallen 200-year-old tree, is gnarled and beaten through years of growth and decay and then finessed by the artist's own hand through the carving process. A collaboration of sorts, it highlights the subtle tones and textures of the mature wood; with its interior illuminated, it showcases the integrity of the material itself. Externally, its undulating and imperfect form reminds us of the statuesque tree it once was, standing tall in a shaded meadow. Nic captures that splendid grandeur to celebrate the natural world.

Tadeas Podracky's Risen From The Ashes pendant is a poetic interplay of light and shadow. Crafted from charred spruce wood, its haunting blackened allure meets celestial grace with black glass floral details and hand-blown elements. In a marriage of imagination and craftsmanship, Tadeas envisions a world where glass artefacts appear to "grow" from sand and ashes, challenging traditional glassmaking yet celebrating the handmade. The sculptural chandelier, paired with an accompanying hand-carved table for FOG, blends handcraft and digital fabrication - together simulating the same enchanting yet eerie carved growth patterns in the blackened wood. With a style that verges on the baroque, its profound affinity with materials encourages contemplation, prompting reflections on the evolving interplay between tradition and innovation in contemporary design. 

Originally ​created fo​r 'Ash & Sand' an exhibition at ​Schloss Hollenegg by Alicia Stori Liechtenstein, Tadeas’ inspiration ​for this pendant was borne from the tradition of glassmaking, historically built on closed, self-sufficient communities that drew on family ties and were directly dependent on the region and its resources. This idea of a community craft has now lost importance and closeness is no longer relevant in the manufacturing process of glass: raw materials are sourced to fit the production's quality and price, and the products are rarely meant for a local market.

The gallery's ongoing commitment to commissioning unique collectible design pieces that can tangibly reduce a sense of distance to nature invites a new modality of living with natural materials in our homes. It focuses on the very complex ways in which we cohabit space with the matter of our planet, through place, material, and crafted processes - what might be determined as a living-togetherhood in collectible design. The ebullience of natural materials in art and design prevails at FOG this year; it is in that glow and its adorning shadows that we find delight and magic. CANOPY will embrace the illuminated exchanges akin to a journey through our blessed landscapes, from the rolling hills of the English South Coast to the arid deserts of Mexico.