Thoughts

Suzanne Tick Inc. says hello to Instagram with a preview of our Neocon 2014 Teknion Textiles Collection FORM + STRUCTURE. Tell your friends to follow us @suzannetick.

@suzannetick

Suzanne Tick, along with designers from her studio and colleagues in the industry, went to Milan for Design Week (April 7 – 13). It was an inspiring trip to see what the international community has to show for this year in a citywide setting that captures the creative spirit of art and design.

Suzanne was invited by Wallpaper* Magazine to participate in the ‘Handmade’ Exhibit, held at Leclettico, which showcases international design and craft. She was paired with lighting designer Mary Wallis to collaborate for the show, which became a woven lit neon piece called “Entangled Light”. The neon piece is an interwoven light fixture that has a dynamic interaction of subtle color shift, using a striation of three color temperatures. The tubes were hand woven into place, after a mockup process using fiberglass templates before being hand blown and bent tube by tube. “Entangled Light” made its Milan debut to an enthusiastic audience, where fans new and old converged in the buzz of the gallery. 

One of the great parts of Design Week is the “Fuori” events, meaning those that take place outside of the Salone trade show fairgrounds. The best one for cutting edge design and seeing the latest trends (not only for color, pattern, and materials but also street fashion) is Ventura Lambrate. You could spend the whole day here looking at furniture, textiles, and design objects from the most talented emerging designers as well as students, which Suzanne encountered at the Design Academy Eindhoven exhibit, among others. The weather was also perfect to stroll all of the exhibits at the Lambrate area, a nice respite from the long cold New York winter. Suzanne also had the pleasure of meeting up with two Italian friends in the design world, Nally Bellati (www.contessanally.blogspot.com) and Chiara Dal Canto, who provided endless insight into Milan’s cultural art and design scenes. A favorite sighting at Lambrate by all was the work of Dutch textile artist Sigrid Calon, whose brightly colored tapestries and patterns were vivid and energizing.

Ventrua Lambrate

L to R: Royce Epstein (STI), Chiara Del Canto, Nally Bellati, Suzanne Tick (STI)

Sigrid Calon at Ventura Lambrate

Of course no time in Milan during Design Week would be complete without a few visits to the fairgrounds for Salone, the world’s largest furniture expo and place to see the upcoming introductions from all of the top design brands. It is an exhausting overview but extremely beneficial, as trends become apparent once looking at the vignettes set up by each company. Italian and European brands are prevalent, with Scandinavian companies also making a large showing. Suzanne enjoyed viewing the trends as well as seeing a large presence of textiles being used throughout the fair, which shows the desire for more materiality in design. Vitra stole the show with Hella Jongerius’ design for their space at the fair. Her color choices were spot on for today’s market, as shown in her hand throughout the space.

Hella Jongerius woven color wheel for Vitra

Entangled Light is a collaboration between textile designer and artist Suzanne Tick, and lighting designer Mary Wallis, for the Wallpaper* Handmade exhibit taking place during Milan Design Week 2014. The neon piece is an interwoven light fixture that has a dynamic interaction of subtle color shift, using a striation of three color temperatures. The tubes were hand woven into place, using a new technique developed by Tick and Wallis that incorporated their strengths: Tick’s weaving expertise and Wallis’ lighting skills. The process started with a paper mockup, followed by fiberglass templates, before it was hand blown and bent tube by tube in Brooklyn using early 20th century techniques. Each tube, while the overall motif is the same, is unique with its own form. Entangled Light is on view at Leclettico, Via San Gregorio, 39 in Milan from April 8 – 12.

Last night was a special night as we kicked off the first of many weaving workshops hosted by Teknion Textiles and led by Suzanne. She offered her weaving expertise and instruction to a select group of designers from New York City A&D firms. Much like Suzanne's body of woven artwork constructed from refuse materials, designers were prompted to bring an assortment of recycled materials to be woven on hand looms. As you will see in the photos below, creativity abounded through the use of personal effects like clothing and jewelry as well as old wires, plastic and fabric samples. Everyone had a great time participating and seeing the amazing and diverse results of the workshop. 

Great interview with Suzanne on the HATCh website!

Check it out and come to the opening on Thursday, hope to see you there…the show features Suzanne's art weavings