One of our favorites launches at NYCxDesign was Hundō by Emily Thurman, an interior and product designer based in Salt Lake City. Thurman’s debut collection of furniture, lighting, and sculptural objects takes its name from the proto-Italic word for “pour out” — fitting as it gestures towards the fluidity that characterizes these pieces as well as the way in which some of them were made using the art of lost wax casting. The idea and process of “pouring out” also evokes the communal, collaborative effort behind this collection: Thurman turned to both local and far-flung designers and artisans to realize this transformative series.

For her Convivium Center Table, Thurman teamed up with Polish designer Daniel Kolodziejczak of the Milan-based StudioDanielK. Its base combines a mixture of white onyx from Iran, green onyx from India and Patagonia, and stone from Brazil, supporting the sculpted, ebonized cherry top. “It’s a concept of spaciousness between people,” says Thurman, “and a conscious move to celebrate coming together.” For the pair of Toteme Standing Lamps, Thurman turned to woodworker and furniture maker Alexis Mazin in Brussels. Mazin often reworks salvaged wood, and he brings that spirit of metamorphosis to these lamps, which also feature stacked, interconnected cast-glass pieces. With Camille Tan of Atelier Falaise in Brussels, Thurman crafted three delicate yet present mobiles. And woodworker Sam Dwyer of Split Snake Designs in Salt Lake City produced the five-sided, three-legged Torrey Desk in walnut, a piece that reflects the dynamics and contours of our bodies; a 31” inch version can be used as a desk while a 17” one works well as a coffee table. Also from Utah, Matthew Vollmer of Hero Ceramics fabricated the Translucent Porcelain sconces.

All of Thurman’s works share an approach that combines technical knowledge and intention with intuition and experimentation, “letting the materials inform the product as you’re in the process of making,” she says. This results in unexpected pieces that echo sculptural traditions. The Cast-Glass Smoking Table references Eileen Gray’s circular E 1027 side table; you might be tempted to see the thin, textured bronze of Giacometti in the frames of the Lost Wax Daybed and Chair; while the ovoid, hand-polished bronze legs of the large and small Lost Wax Ottomans seem to nod to bold Brancusi curves. The daybed reinvents a French iron daybed once owned by Thurman’s grandmother. Thurman first sculpted her iteration in plaster then employed lost-wax casting – welding and polishing the bronze and ultimately devoting 200 hours to achieving its final form. The daybed is upholstered in removable fabric from Sandra Jordan Prima Alpaca, while the chair seat features John Boyd Textiles horsehair – the exact material sourced by Thurman’s grandmother decades earlier for the chair next to her own daybed. There’s so much interconnection at play in Hundō: personal, historical, material; it roots the collection while offering new perspectives.