This week we announced our 11th annual American Design Hot List, Sight Unseen’s editorial award for the names to know now in American design. We’re devoting an entire week to interviews with this year’s honorees — get to know the third group of Hot List designers here (including Luke Malaney, whose wood and hand-hammered copper floor lamp is pictured above).

Luke Malaney

New York, lukemalaney.com
We first met Brooklyn woodworker Luke Malaney when we adopted his wavy hand-carved nightstand into our Collection, but this year he made his practice a little more interesting with the addition of hammered, patinated, torched, and waxed copper elements to his pieces, alongside his use of organic forms, paints, and dyes. We love a solo woodworker and Malaney — who studied traditional techniques with an old-school artisan in Rome — has the skills, but we do appreciate a twist on the genre.

What is American design to you, and what excites you about it?

It’s up in the air, really — a pretty vast spectrum. Technology has been on my mind lately when thinking of American design. Trying to understand what these new robotic ways of designing mean for my work, if anything. I don’t own a computer and I’m comfortable with that. I enjoy making my pieces from start to finish by hand, with old and modern machinery and hand tools. And learning how these materials react with the tools and machines, which took a long time.

I enjoy mistakes and imperfections; sometimes mistakes turn into the design, sometimes the wood wants to do something else. Maybe that’s why some of these robotics make me feel a lack of intimacy with materials. A lack of connection with the work being created. But no matter the approach, the common thread remains. There are no real rules. You can hop on a cruise ship or kayak down a river, but it’s really about navigating the same body of water together, no matter the vessel.

What are your plans and highlights for the upcoming year?

I have some exciting commissions in the works. I’m looking forward to continued exploration into the materials I’m working with and seeing what doors they open, and close. I’d like to do some residencies this year — the idea of getting out of New York to make some new work in a different setting sounds refreshing. A couch, too. I definitely want to make a couch this year.

What inspires or informs your work in general?

Every time I go back to my mom’s house I get inspired. She’s always up to something — an artist in her own right, eclectic, has a good eye, and has a way of making the ridiculous work. I remember coming home as a kid one day and one of the walls in the house was covered in old clocks. Or the front door will just be painted purple. Currently she has all these vintage bird cages hanging from the ceiling. Her robust boldness is a constant inspiration to me and how I approach my work.

Another recent inspiration has been the COBRA art movement, which was an avant-garde style of painting and sculpture from 1948-1951 in Europe. The spontaneous and experimental approach from painters like Karel Appel is something I resonate with. Sometimes I’ll end up drawing a piece after it’s made. I’ve also been sparked on finding ways to blend paint and color into my work. Finding that inner child.

I also get inspired every time I see an old barn, cabin, or piece of furniture. Just the way they were made and the use of joinery; you can see where the joint was pinned, and it’s apparent it’s outlasted its maker. I learned from an old-time woodworker so it’s important for me to practice the principles of joinery in woodworking, providing longevity to the piece and an apparent touch of the hand.

Mark Grattan

New York, markgrattan.com
We first named Grattan to our Hot List back in 2018, when he was helping lead the studio VIDIVIXI in Mexico City. Since then, much has changed: he went solo, appeared in our book, moved back to New York, won Ellen’s Design Challenge, began working with Cristina Grajales gallery and Solange, and recently, nabbed the cover of Elle Decor with an interior he designed for Megan Rapinoe. Which is to say, he’s had a big two years, enough to demand a revisit — and an acknowledgement of his successes under his own name.

What is American design to you, and what excites you about it?

That’s a tough question. For a country that hates me so much, I’m amazed at how far I’ve gotten. If and when I get to the top, I’m excited to blast this shit wide open.

What are your plans and highlights for the upcoming year?

I need to get to know myself next year (for the first time?). I turn 40 at the end of this year. 2023 pushed me into corners I had no business being in. I was in places I thought I needed to be, but they turned out to be the wrong places. I learned a lot this year and wasted a lot of money doing it. The world I’m creating and have wanted for so long isn’t slowing down; I can see it behind me haunting me, ha. How do I find peace in the superficial necessity of it all? What I do creatively is fulfilling, but those things on the other side deserve scrutiny. My dreams at night are telling me I need to start giving back and how to do that has been the big question for me lately.

What inspires or informs your work in general?

I’ve been inhaling MDF dust for months, and painting it super glossy. High-gloss piano lacquer has been an internal trend for my practice. New pieces and old pieces are now taking on candy-like finishes. (Look for a huge oversized Hermanx in high-gloss cafe con leche). It’s not very common for my body of work, but I’ve been very satisfied. It’s a different type of retro glamour, and pairing the durable finish with metal finishes like polished stainless steel help keep my demons happy. I’ve made (another) sick bed for my apartment in Brooklyn in high-gloss black lacquer and expect to launch a collection of case goods in high-gloss with UNNO Galeria in Milan.

Monica Curiel

Denver, monicacuriel.art
This may be the American Design Hot List, but our nomination of Curiel arose just as much from her functional objects, which we first spotted in Milan last year, as it did from the monochrome draped-plaster artworks we fell for in the collection of South Loop Loft — before we even realized, with delight, that they were made by the same person. Curiel’s practice is based around elevating simple materials like plaster, house paint, and grouting tools in part as an homage to her parents, who immigrated to Texas from Mexico and took her along as a child while they cleaned homes and worked on construction sites.

What is American design to you, and what excites you about it?

As a Mexican-American, I still believe in the American Dream — it fuels me, and I find a lot of hope in it. To me, American design reflects a unique fusion of dualities and embodies individualism. You can be a designer anywhere, but the opportunity to build something regardless of your background is unique here. This excites me because it removes creative boundaries and makes it possible to dedicate a career path to refining one’s creative vision. It grants me the freedom to celebrate both of my cultures while using my work as a vehicle to dive into diverse material and conceptual explorations. And as a woman, I’m excited to witness (and be a part of!) the more inclusive chapter of American design that’s being written.

What are your plans and highlights for the upcoming year?

A big goal of mine for this year is to continue exploring how my art and design practices intersect and prioritizing studio time and exhibition opportunities. I’m looking forward to a five-week residency at Anderson Ranch in the spring, where I’ll expand my work with plaster and integrate other mediums as well. I’m also collaborating with Boyd Lighting, a company with a 102-year legacy, to unveil a collection of lighting set to launch in late 2024. While I can’t reveal too much about that work yet, I can confirm that plaster is very much involved.

What inspires or informs your work in general?

My culture is my driving force and a constant source of inspiration. I visit Mexico annually to connect with my family and observe the familiar in new ways. Mundane structures like the “lavadero” (an outdoor sink made of stone or concrete with a built-in washboard used to wash clothing) that I once overlooked — and was even embarrassed by! — have gained a new significance for me. I contemplate how they were constructed, who in my family built them, and with what materials. My work seeks to elevate everyday construction materials, prompting viewers to question the how, why, and who behind what I create. My work being recognized as handmade is very important for me, as it embodies the essence of my artistic journey and honors the skills that have been handed down to me by my parents.

Natalie Weinberger

New York, natalieweinberger.com
As much as we love tableware and vessels, we remember how excited we were when Weinberger first began making ceramic lamps back in 2017 — one of which, an all-terracotta beauty, we put on the cover of our book — and then tiled tables, with Giancarlo Valle, two years later. She’s since expanded her practice into the realm of glass, both blown by her collaborator Kenny Pieper and cast herself in the same kilns she fires her ceramics in, the latter for a series of sconces with Jacqueline Sullivan Gallery that we’re hoping to see more of in 2024.

What is American design to you, and what excites you about it?

American design at this moment feels very open and expansive. There seems to be both a market and an audience for every expression and every style, especially for designers with an emphasis on experimentation and innovation. The growing appreciation for craft has been a true joy to witness in my own past decade in this line of work, and it’s exciting to think of all the new talents that will be rising up in the coming years.

What are your plans and highlights for the upcoming year?

2024 is all about wrapping big projects that have been in progress for the better part of a year: a number of new tiled coffee tables, a series of new cast glass wall lighting, my biggest dinnerware commission to date, and an expansion of my glassware line made with glassblower Kenny Pieper. I’ll also be continuing my design work for CB2 dreaming up new dinnerware, barware, and stemware collections.

What inspires or informs your work in general?

Lately I’ve been inspired by the simple notion of “beautiful comfort.” Comfort can take on many forms. There’s visual comfort — that certain harmony of proportions, materials, shape, and texture that can quickly put your nerves at ease. And there’s of course physical comfort: how an object fits into your hand, your home, and your life at large — its ease of use. And lastly there’s sentimental comfort: the familiarity of a traditional shape, an object used and worn over time, or something intriguing that piques your curiosity. I’m currently traveling in Sri Lanka where I’ve been visiting various properties designed by the late architect Geoffrey Bawa, who was a clear master of incorporating comfort into his spaces at every level. That ability to put the user at ease is definitely something I’m striving for in my own work, whether it be a mug, a lamp, a coffee table, etc. At the end of the day, it’s simply about making objects that are practical, that have the power to delight you, and that make you feel good.

PHOTOS: MARK GRATTAN (KELLY MARSHALL – RED BATHROOM IMAGE), MONICA CURIEL (JIMENA PECK, IAN ACE PHOTOGRAPHY)