New York City, @jennna.g
Jenna Graziano worked briefly in fashion before shifting to fine woodworking — and, after graduation, working in the studio of former Hot Lister Minjae Kim — so it makes sense that her work often incorporates materials like freshwater pearls or, in the case of the collaborative chair she made with Madeline Coven, a sling of raw cowhide. She often pairs those more quixotic materials with brutally elemental ones, exploring the point where delicacy meets durability. With only a few designs under her belt, we’re excited to see more. 

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

I really like how crafty and clever American design can be. I get excited about objects that feel unusual, or like they’re colliding with some form of outsider art. There’s something very endearing about objects that are scrappy but also thoughtful and earnest. Someone who comes to mind is Wharton Esherick, whose work has this unconventional and charming quality to it and feels deeply personal and like an expression of his own world.

What are your plans and highlights for the upcoming year?

After several years of designing and making furniture, I recently started an MFA in Sculpture to explore a body of work that doesn’t necessarily consider function. I’ve been really engaged with it, but ironically, a lot of the work I’ve made so far hints at functionality in some way. Right now, I’m working on some wall-mounted pieces, like paper quilts incorporating wood and abalone veneer, and also “paintings” with protruded mini furniture models. In my design work, I’ve been thinking about different types of heat sources. I’ve always wanted a fireplace, but living in New York City, only a handful of apartments have them, so I’m prototyping a fixture that uses ceramic (which retains and distributes heat very well) with candles to create a cross between a space heater, chiminea, and fireplace. I’m also designing another piece for the embroidered pearl series, but rather than using sheet metal, it’s going to be either cast metal or possibly cast glass. That said, I’m constantly looking to work with new materials and processes, so it’s likely I’ll go down a different rabbit hole next week and set out to design and make something completely different.

What inspires or informs your work in general? 

I try to think a lot about the things I liked as a kid, because, when you’re a child, your interests are uninhibited, and the decisions I make with that mindset feel very authentic to me. One of the first times I really noticed the design and the feel of a space was when I was 9 or 10, and my parents took my sister and me to the Breakers, a preserved Gilded Age mansion built by the Vanderbilts. I understood it was a grand and beautiful space with velvet, wrought iron, and marble, but there was also a haunting quality I was drawn to. I had a similar feeling at the Dennis Severs’ House in London this summer. In both places, I noticed the coexistence of beauty and eeriness, which is something I try to create in my work. I like to explore contradictions like these specifically with the materials like the delicacy of pearl against the strength of steel.