I am an emerging designer working with my hands to produce sculptural and organic forms. I enjoy the space of critical design where my work can critique social practice and norms so that viewers may question whether they are founded in reason or simply perpetuating harmful misconceptions. I have recently been interested in investigating how objects can induce and determine experiences. In particular, I want to explore further how rituals and mindfulness may be enhanced through this interaction with physical forms. As a designer, I would also like to disrupt society's relationship with consumption by demonstrating how invoking stronger affinities with selected objects may help combat the current pandemic of short-termism. Thus, we may avoid the vicious trend cycles in favour of obtaining objects that will hold long-lasting personal meaning.
Tableware Dyad (2021). Brass and Ceramic. Plate: 190 x 162 x 77 mm. Spoon: 50 x 45 x 16.4 mm
The Dining Set is designed to disempower the discriminatory undertones of 'polite' Western eating standards. Intentionally created for cumbersome eating, users are encouraged to use their fingers and confront their biases against hand-to-mouth eating.
Having reflected on a personal encounter with hand-to-mouth eating where others around me were closed off to the cultural practice, I was inspired to investigate the discrimination faced by individuals wishing to enjoy their culture's food as it was intended to be eaten.Using the utensil to create a middle ground, I hope to reduce discrimination fuelled by the fear of the unfamiliar and invalidate negative stereotypes surrounding hygiene.
The white glazing of the ceramic plate is strategically utilised as a versatile backdrop to highlight the plated food, stimulating the diner's hunger to heighten their irritation at the obstacle that the clay canals become. The gold-coloured metal was selected for its ornate connotations, emphasising how cutlery has transitioned from a primal tool into an item routinely used for a decorative or performative function rather than necessity.
To say that another culture's eating practices are unhygienic or uncivilised reflects a Colonialist gaze, the ignorance of which continues the build-up of micro-aggressions experienced by individuals daily. Consequently, I hope to fuel user reflections on the arbitrary nature of etiquette and highlight the inappropriateness of critiquing another individual's eating methods.
Having reflected on a personal encounter with hand-to-mouth eating where others around me were closed off to the cultural practice, I was inspired to investigate the discrimination faced by individuals wishing to enjoy their culture's food as it was intended to be eaten.Using the utensil to create a middle ground, I hope to reduce discrimination fuelled by the fear of the unfamiliar and invalidate negative stereotypes surrounding hygiene.
The white glazing of the ceramic plate is strategically utilised as a versatile backdrop to highlight the plated food, stimulating the diner's hunger to heighten their irritation at the obstacle that the clay canals become. The gold-coloured metal was selected for its ornate connotations, emphasising how cutlery has transitioned from a primal tool into an item routinely used for a decorative or performative function rather than necessity.
To say that another culture's eating practices are unhygienic or uncivilised reflects a Colonialist gaze, the ignorance of which continues the build-up of micro-aggressions experienced by individuals daily. Consequently, I hope to fuel user reflections on the arbitrary nature of etiquette and highlight the inappropriateness of critiquing another individual's eating methods.
