Hands On
Author:Abigail StoneInterior designer Emily Thurman releases the first piece in the furniture collection she handcrafted with astounding results
Photography by MATTIA DE NARDIS and BELLE MORIZIO.
While it’s not unusual to commission bespoke pieces for a high-end project, Northern California-born, Utah-based interior designer Emily Thurman takes that idea one step further. She doesn’t just design furniture, she creates it. “While crafting furniture is a very different practice than my interiors work, they inform each other,” she explains. Rooted in collaboration, interior design allows her to showcase the work of her tightly knit community of artisans and craftspeople in bringing her vision to life. “In contrast, furniture making is an intimate process between myself and the material,” she notes. “It allows me to focus on one piece to solve its form and function.” Her foray into furniture making grew out of her long-standing commitment to sustainability and longevity. “My objective has always been to include well-made, custom pieces that will never make their way to a landfill,” she emphasizes.
Photography by MATTIA DE NARDIS and BELLE MORIZIO.
Created using the lost-wax process—an ancient technique whereby metal is molded around a wax or plaster sculpture that is then removed, leaving a hollow cavity that welcomes the final material—the resulting work captures all of the intricate details and blemishes of the original sculpted form. “I’m hands-on from the prototyping to the final polishing,” she says. “That enables me to physically connect with the material, which informs the evolution of the design.”
These qualities are exemplified by the Lost Wax Bronze Daybed, the inaugural piece in Hundō, her first collection of bronze and porcelain furniture and lighting. Inspired by nature, the sculptural, hand-polished lines of its metal body echo the shape and color of her adopted state’s infamous red rock canyons. “The ideal balance is when I can work with clients who value bespoke furniture so that I am able to express both of my passions in one body of work.”
