Week 10: A collection of half-finished objects (A picture a day)

Kishu Vases by Maya Selway

Kishu Vases by Maya Selway

Kishu Vases by Maya Selway

Objects that seem like half-finished sketches of candle holders, vases, bowls and bottles won British designer Maya Selway second prize in the Object category of the Interieur Design Awards at the Interieur design biennale in Kortrijk, Belgium, last week.

Each object in the Kishu collection is carefully weighted at its base to support its lopsided structure. I think that the designer probably worked for a very long time to get the balance right. 

The delicate pieces are made from oxidised copper, and the vase also has a shallow silver dish for holding water. The bottles and bowls are purely decorative, but the candle holder and the vase can be used as shown in the photographs above.

I love minimalistic designs and this product design is definitely one of my favourites. From afar, it may look like a flat sculpture, but up close you can see that actually the lines used to form this 3d structure actually has some practical use. This visually appealing and practical sculpture definitely redefines what a 'vas' actually is. It strays away from traditional views of what vases should be like, by making a very empty and open shape vas using copper metal, bent and smelt instead of the conventional method of using pottery clay or metal to create a "covered up" structure.