Introducing our Newest Collection - Dwell's "Favorite" of ICFF
Last week we debuted our newest collection, ARTIFACT V.2, at New York's ICFF. Dwell Magazine's Ian Zunt wrote about his favorites at the fair. Here's what he had to say about our booth:
"My favorite booth elicited a gasp, followed by me running across the convention center floor, followed by our intrepid photographer Levi Mandel. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: We don’t see enough Depression Era furniture. For their debut at ICFF, Wretched Flowers scratched that itch.
The design duo perfectly employed the "crown of thorns" woodworking technique—this time in steel—to produce furniture that looks like it precedes all of us. Hanging in front of one of the mirrors, a small pendant light also makes use of metal in the form of chain mail. A matching floor lamp stands to the side, while its jewelry, in the form of cast-pewter stars traditionally seen on Amish fabrics, stands at the ready. Taken altogether, the collection was the perfectly tarnished star of ICFF, in my eyes."
ARTIFACT V.2 builds upon our first collection of lighting and accessories (called, you guessed it, ARTIFACT), and is now available for browsing on our site.
The collection continues our interest in craft lost to the past. We update the brutal chainmail technique from medieval warfare and soften it with the sweet domestic charm of folk art by adding cast pewter stars - the 8-pointed kind traditionally found on quilts. Our bud vase is constructed by splicing together two 16th-century halberds (axe-like weapons), which we've softened by adding German tapestry patterns from the same era, in the form of UV-printed clear varnish, to the surface of the steel. Our Crown of Thorns mirrors and lamps update the lost art of "Tramp Art," a depression-era style of woodworking pioneered by traveling salesmen. While outsider artists used old cigar boxes and discarded wood, we use stainless steel - again combining a sweet and folksy reference with a more masculine and arresting material.
We're very excited about this new collection, and are thrilled to have received such generous praise and enthusiasm from Dwell and, of course, all the new friends we've made at ICFF. Thanks for stopping by our booth!
We offer a range of custom finishes for both the chainmail and laser-cut stainless steel pieces, and are excited to collaborate with clients to make bespoke objects as well (chainmail curtain partition anyone?).
Stay tuned for iterations of this collection to come this summer!