This article is part of our Design special section about the reverence for handmade objects.
Today, in a world overrun with technology, with artists still dealing with the isolation and preoccupations of the pandemic, we’re seeing a robust revival of handicrafts for the home. Below, some new objects from established leaders of the pack.
Step on It
Based in Philadelphia, Claudia Mills began by weaving rag rugs from recycled fabrics; today she works with new cotton so that her pieces are machine washable and colorfast. The rugs can be used for upholstery or hung as art, but all are made to be walked on. “We send every rug out of here with a nonskid pad,” she said. From $195 for a 2-foot-square to $1,360 for a 2-by 8-foot runner. Custom designs are $95 a square foot. claudiamills.com
After her self-described failure as an actress, Shelley Simpson started playing with clay in a backyard shed in Melbourne, Australia. Thirty years later, her company, Mud Australia, employs 80 people to produce handcrafted dinnerware — and now lighting. The portable and rechargeable Pop Lamp is handmade from a single piece of porcelain. Available in six colors for $520. mudaustralia.com
A Delicate Balance
Born in Japan and educated in London, Hiroko Takeda came to New York City in 2001 to work with the eminent textile artist Jack Lenor Larsen. In 2010, she opened her own studio, in Brooklyn, which creates art pieces and fabrics for interiors. (A solo exhibition of her work is on view at Hunter Dunbar Projects, in Chelsea, through April 19.) For one of her latest textiles, Macaron, thick wool slub yarns are twisted and interlaced to create airy panels. The fabric is 48 inches wide and $500 a yard. hirokotakeda.com
Fuzzy Logic
Jessica Switzer Green, a former technology marketing executive, fell in love with wool after moving to a farm in Sonoma County, Calif., in 2018, and working with the local sheep. She founded JG SWITZER to produce hand-felted fabrics, blankets and pillows using a technique she described as “painting with wool.” The Shetland Cloud reversible throw is approximately 70 by 50 inches and $895, and the Black Saffron hand-felted pillow is 36 by 28 inches and $780. jgswitzer.com
Andrew Iannazzi began blowing glass as a student in upstate New York and opened his studio in 2013 in Cambridge, Mass., but his craft is an outgrowth of European traditions, particularly the 800-year-old glass industry on the Venetian island of Murano. Mr. Iannuzzi described his Spout pouring bowls as “retro,” inspired by humble kitchen housewares from his youth. They come in three sizes and are $185 to $325. vitriccaiannazzi.com
Knots and All
The latest work of the furniture maker Chris Lehrecke, who has been in business for almost four decades, celebrates catalpa, ambrosia maple, black walnut and turkey feather ash — all types of wood from trees that surround his Hudson Valley home. He said he loved everything about those trees, including their defects: “Maybe, as I grow older, I feel more of a connection to the imperfections.” His Turkey Feather Ash Screen with handcrafted steel knuckle hinges is 60 x 72 inches and $11,000. ralphpucci.com
Cache and Carry
Inspired by French fishermen’s baskets that he saw in a Danish museum, Zach Matheson, an artist in Portland, Ore., designed baskets from upcycled materials like plastic zip ties and polyethylene fencing trimmed in leather. He began selling the baskets through Room & Board in 2020 and two years ago handed off the production to Softline, a company in Minneapolis. The baskets, called Fletcher, come in five sizes and cost $99 to $159. roomandboard.com
Opposites Attract
Working with the technique known as sgraffito, the ceramics artist Jennifer Falter, who in 1998 founded a studio in Springfield, Mo., with her husband, Nathan Falter, scrapes away the liquid clay coatings of her pieces to expose the solid layer below. ”I settled on just working in black-and-white because that made the strongest contrast,” she said. Her $425 Ginkgo vase is 10 inches high and 8 inches in diameter. springfieldpottery.com
Steel Crazy After All These Years
Founded in 1845, Shin In-Young’s ironmonger shop is the oldest in South Korea. Using metal from discarded train tracks, Master Shin, who began apprenticing in the family business in 1966 at the age of 13, makes an assortment of kitchen and gardening implements, including this carving set whose knife and fork have handles of chestnut or oak. (The carbon steel knife blade needs sharpening only every two or three years.) The set, which is packaged in a leather pouch, is $620. ameico.com
