Morgan-Cox has constructed Palefire with sustainability in thoughts from the bottom up. However it’s fantastic artwork that actually conjures up the look of her designs – she says her strategy is ‘resolutely maximalist’, and attracts on her artwork historical past coaching (she holds an MA from the Courtauld Institute of Artwork) to tell her designs: Nineteenth-century European portray and sculpture, the Arts & Crafts motion, and the refinement of European Modernism all are of specific curiosity to her.
(Picture credit score: Ollie Tomlinson)
Having spent over a decade as a specialist supplier in European sculpture, portray and ornamental artwork, she went on to assist inside designer Tobias Vernon open 8 Holland Avenue in 2018, earlier than turning into Managing Director of The Effective Artwork Society in London and designing the interiors of its new dwelling. The identify Palefire itself comes from a Vladimir Nabokov novel and Williams Shakespeare poem: ‘The moon’s an arrant thief, And her pale fireplace she snatches from the solar’.
Palefire: sustainable design meets craft
(Picture credit score: Ollie Tomlinson)
‘The concept from conception was to provide designs that had been considerate about sustainability with out compromising the aesthetic,’ she says, explaining her two-pronged strategy. ‘First is a thought of strategy to supplies and what affect they’ve. The second issue is the modularity of the design and our manufacturing mannequin which produces much less waste.
All the assortment of fourteen designs is made utilizing solely 5 easy, cone and dome shapes.’ Certainly, she has named the gathering “U/V” after these distinct shapes, in addition to being a play on mild. ‘The smallest cone, for example, is concurrently used because the shade of our “Diabolo” lights or the ceiling rose for our pendant lights,’ she factors out. Twin-cone wall sconces, dish-like desk lamps, a bell-shaped pendant and flush mount illustrate the ‘myriad of prospects’ created by working on this modular system.
The papier-mâché course of
(Picture credit score: Ollie Tomlinson)
Morgan-Cox searched far and large for a producer working with paper pulp that might ship designs to her stage of refinement and end. She ultimately found a small, household run workshop that has been manufacturing paper pulp merchandise because the Eighteen Nineties, simply exterior Barcelona. Right here, paper waste is processed, injection moulded – permitting them to make extra advanced buildings – and air dried. Steel and electrical parts are made in one other family-run manufacturing facility in Birmingham, the place waste filings are collected and put again into the system: ‘Gathering and recycling waste has all the time been a necessary a part of their enterprise as it’s too invaluable to waste,’ she factors out.
Hand-painted colors
(Picture credit score: Ollie Tomlinson)
All orders are hand-painted by the group within the Camberwell studio utilizing low VOC paint which is ‘manufactured utilizing primarily geothermal, hydropower and wind of their vegetation in Iceland and Sweden,’ she says. Executing the portray in her studio additionally permits flexibility for customized orders. Impartial colors similar to Celadon (off white), and Clove (a heat brownish black) are complimented with Brick and Citrine, whereas free-hand painted patterns such because the swirling Serpent and cross-hatched Axis have been shocking greatest sellers.
A vibrant future
(Picture credit score: Courtesy Palefire)
Wanting forward, Morgan-Fox plans so as to add a restoration and renewal service, serving to the longevity of her lamps. This might embrace touching up floor scuffs, or utterly repainting a shade if a buyer redecorates an area. ‘We don’t want something going within the bin!’ she says.
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