04.06.23

Sighted

Gaetano Pesce Vases and a Cabinet That Looks Like a Japanese Capsule Hotel: Inside Melbourne’s Newest Fashion Boutique

A jewelry cabinet that looks like a scaled-down Japanese capsule hotel, with chartreuse-colored compartments fronted by metal and glass doors; a glossy deep-red lacquer applied around the edges of the ceiling; a Gaetano Pesce vase: We’re all familiar with the adage "shop ‘til you drop,” but at the Melbourne boutique Stable, designed by Studio Manifold, you might actually want to lounge for hours.
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11.29.21

Gift Guides

Foot Vases and Artichoke Plates: The 2021 Sight Unseen Gift Guide, Part I

We always look forward to putting together our annual gift guides, where we get to turn our brains off, scour our favorite stores for wishlist-worthy objects, and focus on sheer indulgence for a minute. What's our favorite candle this year, our favorite wine glass? Which books are we dying to have on our coffee table now, and in the case of Monica (whose guide is featured today), which foot-shaped vase? We hope you can get some inspiration from these lists — particularly when it comes to supporting small businesses and talented independent makers.
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Nicolette Johnson Assemblage vases
06.29.20

Eye Candy

These Surrealist-Inspired Vases Are the Breakthrough That Resulted From a Creative Block

At the beginning of the pandemic, some designers may have viewed the ensuing solitude as an opportunity to "bloom where you grow." But not everyone found it easy to stay inspired. "After lockdown started in the early months of 2020, I felt completely unmotivated to make work," confesses the Brisbane ceramicist Nicolette Johnson. After a while, however, Johnson gave herself permission to make literally anything, and began sculpting shapes out of soft clay — inspired by Surrealist and Constructivist motifs — and attaching them to small wheel-thrown vases.
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06.25.20

Eye Candy

These Duotone Vases Are Reversible, Depending On Your Color Scheme — Or Mood

The up-and-coming Australian designer Dean Toepfer had been primarily working on commissions and larger furniture pieces — like a bar cart made from a faux terrazzo composite and a sling chair upholstered in pink shag — since graduating from RMIT. But with the onset of the pandemic, Toepfer decided to reassess. "Vase Versa is my first object collection, and first self-produced range," Toepfer explains.
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Cape Town ceramicist Ceri Muller
04.27.20

Up and Coming

The Cape Town Ceramicist Making Crinkled Vases and Clay Faces

Here’s a tip for anyone suffering from the fear of starting something creative: Make the ugliest thing you can think of. That’s the genius bit of advice that ceramics artist Ceri Muller’s partner gave her when she felt blocked, faced with her first lump of clay. “I did that and carried on doing it and those ugly little things morphed into these heads that I grew to really love,” she says.
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Sight Unseen design gift guide
12.03.19

Gift Guides

Two-Toned Vases and Velvet Body Pillows — The 2019 Sight Unseen Gift Guide, Part I

By now we've come to understand how hotly anticipated our annual gift guides are, so considering that it's after Thanksgiving, we'll cut to the chase: We did our gift guides a bit differently this year. In addition to our editor picks — today's by Jill — we asked our favorite designers and influencers to share their best gifts for giving and receiving, and over on Instagram, you'll have the chance to win four of the coolest items from each of our three guides.
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Memor x Rachel Saunders
05.28.19

Eye Candy

These Mosaic Vases — Incorporating Shells and Ceramics Discards — Went Viral on Instagram

Inspired by memory jugs from American folk art, Memor's vases incorporate shells, stones, or — in this case — ceramic discards from Rachel Saunders' studio. Fragmented, would-be discarded pieces of ceramics in muted greens and terracotta are given new life against the natural clay of the vessels. After a sold-out response to their debut collection, the pair are launching a second this summer.
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03.28.19

Eye Candy

Milan Preview: Jorge Penadés’ Aquatic-Inspired Aluminum Vases

Jorge Penadés has been popping up on our radar a lot lately, and the Spanish designer’s latest move is a collaboration with the manufacturer BD Barcelona, a furniture brand known for its extensive design catalogue and pioneering technology in aluminum extrusion dating all the way back to the 1970s. Entitled Piscis, the six different vases are made from extruded aluminum profiles, converted from the offcuts of old tables and shelves (including those by Konstantin Grcic) produced over the last 50 years in BD Barcelona's factory.
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