Draga Obradovic and Aurel K Basedow, founders of Industrial design studio Draga & Aurel, collaborated with Todd Merrill Studio on the release of their latest capsule collection, FLARE. The collection, which consists of futuristic furniture made out of multicolored Lucite, premiered at the Salon Art + Design New York 2023.
The furniture includes seven coffee tables and a totem sculpture crafted entirely from sheets of Lucite– a patented version of acrylic resin developed in 1937 and is processed by hand. Draga & Aurel collaborated with skilled artisans on Lake Como, Italy to create the pieces using sheets of Lucite in varying colors, shapes and thicknesses, which are then precisely cut, placed on top of each other and then glued together.
The result are unique furniture pieces characterized by their chunky silhouette and attractive colors ranging from green, pink, orange and blue. The mesmerizing spectrum of hues cast a kaleidoscope of bright light or a mesmerizing interplay of light. The colors were informed by the intricate “three-dimensional color study of South Korean artist Jiyong Lee and the compositional technique of Vasa Mihich in acrylic sculptures. The studio said FLARE “delves into the dynamic interplay of color and light refraction.”
The furniture pieces become versatile objects that change when viewed from different angles and encapsulates “the essence of a flare and embodying intuition, revelation, and discovery.” In the words of Draga Obradovic, “Flare is a spark of color that explodes, frees itself, and takes shape. It’s joy, experimentation, intuition, and freedom of expression.” Meanwhile, Todd Merrill Studio explained that FLARE takes cues from “minimalism’s simplified volumes, retro-futuristic experimentation of space-age design and the eye-bending patterns of optical art.”
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Images courtesy of Draga & Aurel
