My most treasured possession is a little man made out of horsehair. For my 40th birthday, Tara – the president of Apparatus – organised for everyone on staff to write me a birthday note, which really got me! I was bawling reading them, it was the most special thing. In one of those notes from two people on our craft team (they do all of the intricate work with leather and horsehair) there was this little man.
We use horsehair in our sconce and pendant lights, and understanding how to use the material took years of development. It was actually a formative moment for the studio and for me in understanding what we can achieve creatively. This little horsehair figure reminded me of why I do what I do, which is ultimately to celebrate that our hands are how we communicate meaning.
In that moment, it made me really proud of the community that I had built, of the work that we had created and of the emotional investment that I could feel that my team had in what we were doing together. I knew immediately that it was going to be an object that I would remember and I had to frame it.
What's everyone reading?
It’s a reminder that even while I want to continue to grow and dream bigger, the foundation is always going to be the people and the craft, and it’s important not to forget that. Everyone in the 110-strong team that makes up Apparatus brings their own knowledge, history and emotional frequencies to their various tasks. Sometimes it feels like conducting an orchestra, making everything sing together. apparatusstudio.com
