Wallpaper* E-newsletter Obtain our each day digest of inspiration, escapism and design tales from all over the world direct to your inbox Identify: Your Electronic mail Handle Contact me with information and affords from different Future manufacturers Thanks for signing as much as Wallpaper. You’ll obtain a verification electronic mail shortly. There was an issue. Please refresh the web page and check out once more. By submitting your info you comply with the Phrases & Situations and Privateness Coverage and are aged 16 or over.
Morgan-Cox has constructed Palefire with sustainability in thoughts from the bottom up. Nevertheless it’s high-quality artwork that basically evokes the look of her designs – she says her strategy is ‘resolutely maximalist’, and attracts on her artwork historical past coaching (she holds an MA from the Courtauld Institute of Artwork) to tell her designs: Nineteenth-century European portray and sculpture, the Arts & Crafts motion, and the refinement of European Modernism all are of explicit curiosity to her.
(Picture credit score: Ollie Tomlinson)
Having spent over a decade as a specialist seller in European sculpture, portray and ornamental artwork, she went on to assist inside designer Tobias Vernon open 8 Holland Avenue in 2018, earlier than turning into Managing Director of The Superb Artwork Society in London and designing the interiors of its new house. The title Palefire itself comes from a Vladimir Nabokov novel and Williams Shakespeare poem: ‘The moon’s an arrant thief, And her pale fireplace she snatches from the solar’.
Palefire: sustainable design meets craft
(Picture credit score: Ollie Tomlinson)
‘The thought from conception was to supply designs that had been considerate about sustainability with out compromising the aesthetic,’ she says, explaining her two-pronged strategy. ‘First is a thought of strategy to supplies and what influence they’ve. The second issue is the modularity of the design and our manufacturing mannequin which produces much less waste.
All the assortment of fourteen designs is made utilizing solely 5 easy, cone and dome shapes.’ Certainly, she has named the gathering “U/V” after these distinct shapes, in addition to being a play on mild. ‘The smallest cone, as an illustration, is concurrently used because the shade of our “Diabolo” lights or the ceiling rose for our pendant lights,’ she factors out. Twin-cone wall sconces, dish-like desk lamps, a bell-shaped pendant and flush mount illustrate the ‘myriad of potentialities’ created by working on this modular system.
The papier-mâché course of
(Picture credit score: Ollie Tomlinson)
Morgan-Cox searched far and broad for a producer working with paper pulp that might ship designs to her degree of refinement and end. She ultimately found a small, household run workshop that has been manufacturing paper pulp merchandise for the reason that Nineties, simply exterior Barcelona. Right here, paper waste is processed, injection moulded – permitting them to make extra complicated buildings – and air dried. Steel and electrical elements are made in one other family-run manufacturing unit in Birmingham, the place waste filings are collected and put again into the system: ‘Amassing and recycling waste has all the time been a vital a part of their enterprise as it’s too useful to waste,’ she factors out.
Hand-painted colors
(Picture credit score: Ollie Tomlinson)
All orders are hand-painted by the group within the Camberwell studio utilizing low VOC paint which is ‘manufactured utilizing primarily geothermal, hydropower and wind of their vegetation in Iceland and Sweden,’ she says. Executing the portray in her studio additionally permits flexibility for customized orders. Impartial colors comparable to Celadon (off white), and Clove (a heat brownish black) are complimented with Brick and Citrine, whereas free-hand painted patterns such because the swirling Serpent and cross-hatched Axis have been stunning greatest sellers.
A shiny future
(Picture credit score: Courtesy Palefire)
Wanting forward, Morgan-Fox plans so as to add a restoration and renewal service, serving to the longevity of her lamps. This might embody touching up floor scuffs, or utterly repainting a shade if a buyer redecorates an area. ‘We are not looking for something going within the bin!’ she says.
palefirestudio.com
