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Articolo Studios Launches its First Artist Series
Articolo Studios launches Barnacles, its debut Artist Series – a lighting collection created in collaboration with acclaimed Melbourne textile artist Emma Davies.
Melbourne-based artisanal lighting brand Articolo Studios is, at heart, a cauldron of creative energy. Since its inception, the studio – founded by Nicci Kavals – has been driven by a desire to create lighting that dissolves the boundary between design, art and architecture while celebrating the ephemeral nature of light. Articolo has worked consistently with master artisans globally to produce lights that reflect the distinct qualities and beauty of mouth-blown glass and hand-cast metal.
A collection in collaboration with an artist was the natural next step – and so the Articolo Studios Artist Series was born. “We’re delighted to deepen our connection to the arts by collaborating directly with local and international artists, fusing their unique practices with the sophisticated engineering and elevated design that Articolo Studios is known for,” says Kavals.
That connection is manifested in Barnacles, a collection of two sublime wall sconces created in partnership with Melbourne artist Emma Davies. Kavals has long admired Davies, who works with materials like bailing twine and industrial mesh to create vessels, textiles and soft sculptural pieces with a deep sense of the organic and natural. Here, the artist appliquéd pressed pigmented barnacles to arranged hand-finished metal forms, creating intricate sconces that cast a soft, diffused light, each with a unique impression.
“The compositions offer a confident cast of rich, pigmented colour and luminous, diffused light, transforming ubiquitous materials into objects of beauty and significance.”
“The fittings’ distinctive barnacle forms are meticulously crafted by heating reclaimed bird netting and bailing twine into a malleable state, with Emma delicately pressing a smooth rock into its surface to form a fine, rounded fragment,” explains Kavals. “Each piece is imprinted with the unique patterns of my touch, reinforcing the idea that art is a living, evolving dialogue between creator and creation,” adds the artist.
The sconces’ robust, hand-finished metal casing is delicately layered with an abundant spray of the hand-pressed barnacles. “The compositions offer a confident cast of rich, pigmented colour and luminous, diffused light, transforming ubiquitous materials into objects of beauty and significance,” says Kavals. The Barnacle Wall Sconce and Barnacle Connect Wall Sconce are available in bronze with a choice of claret, ink or bronze barnacles, or brass with white barnacles.
