The Debut Collection From Studio Hanrahan Melds Ancient Forms and Contemporary Aesthetics

One of the best things about Sight Unseen turning 15 this year is having an archive at our fingertips by which to chart the growth of certain artists who have captured our interest over the years. Take Ryan Hanrahan, an Australian designer whose work we first published more than a decade ago. Hanrahan has been involved in several different ventures since then, including Addition Studios, a ritual-focused wellness brand he sold at the tail end of COVID. But looking at each one — particularly in the context of Text the Sun, the first collection he’s releasing under his new studio name, Studio Hanrahan — you see the obvious through lines: the geometric shapes, the love for elemental materials such as marble and metal, the melding of ancient forms and contemporary aesthetics, an abiding interest in waterjet–cut perforations. Hanrahan calls Text the Sun “a playful recalibration” of those interests, and the results are lovely. There’s the Lego-like Galaxy coffee table, whose perforated legs can be oriented any which way; the Pyramid lamp, whose granite layers, separated by clear perspex tubes, give the illusion that the lamp floats and glows at the same time; and the sophisticated Eclipse coffee table, whose smoked glass top rests on asymmetrically carved cylinders. A series of metal lamps, inspired by awkward laser-cut shapes, rounds out the collection.