2 minute read
By design - DAVID WISEMAN
The LA-based designer talks about running an independent studio and being inspired by David Attenborough
US designer David Wiseman creates sculpture, furniture and site-specific installations at his studio in Frogtown, Los Angeles, a unique space with its own foundry, ceramic studio, metal shop and viewing rooms. Encountering his nature-inspired works is “like discovering the beautiful landscape of Narnia inside an austere wardrobe,” wrote critic Carren Jao.
Lost Valley Wall Mirror, 2019.
Courtesy: Wiseman Studio. Photo: Kasmin Gallery
Your practice is very much a dual operation. How does the process work? David Wiseman: Since 2017, I have been working in partnership with my brother Ari, who had a significant career leading museums. He’s actually been a huge influence on my life since 1981, and in many ways guided and influenced the course of my creative life, taking me to museums, sharing his passion for art history and all things refined and aesthetic. I take the creative lead on my work but am always sharing ideas and in active dialogue with Ari, on all aspects of the studio. His involvement has allowed us to be an independent studio, where we can work directly with collectors and designers, as well as with galleries. Is everything you do and make inspired by nature? You're obviously a fan of David Attenborough. Yes, of course. The BBC Planet Earth series is in heavy rotation and has inspired many projects, such as the Bowerbird table. Nature is at the source of all of my work. Some of the patterns that I am drawn to and have incorporated in my work may seem one step removed from nature, but at their source, I think they all come from structures and ideas rooted in nature.
Does Wilderness and Ornament sum up your aesthetic? It could in a way, yes. That was the name of a show I had in 2015 at R & Company gallery, where my goal was to create a type of ornament that evokes more than mere fringe decoration or icing on the cake, but that demonstrates my reverence for the wilderness by creating objects and interiors totally and completely inspired by it.
How has Owen Jones’s Grammar of Ornament been a reference point for you? Grammar of Ornament was always on my grandmother’s shelf. When I was a kid I remember gravitating toward it and admiring the colorful, metallic plates featuring patterns from cultures around the globe and throughout history.
Have you ever attended Salon Art + Design fair in New York? Yes, I showed tabletop objects and a bronze and porcelain collage fireplace screen at the fair. The fair is always a great opportunity to see new work alongside examples of historic decorative arts, which is always of interest to me.
