Louise Bennetts

Phosphorescent

‘A phosphorescent jewel gives off its glow and colour in the dark and loses its beauty in the light of day.’
- Junichiro Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows

I'm interested in design narratives, and was influenced by contemporary themes of intervention, hacking, and fixing, where people actively alter their possessions in an effort to render them unique and durable. I want to create pieces that, whilst being new, carry the same sense of storytelling, revealing in their very structure the process by which they came to be, suggesting that they could continue to adapt in the future.  I'm interested in sustainable sourcing, and challenging people's perceptions of value by presenting unlikely materials in a desirable context. Irreverent, unlikely, hardwearing materials such as organic cork skin, horsehair canvas, off-cut denim and steel corset boning are coated, composed and constructed together, whilst patterns are slashed, twisted and engineered to create complex shapes that twist around the body, sculpturally enveloping and subtly revealing at the same time.

The resulting pieces are suspended, somewhere between being strung together and elegantly falling apart. The ultimate effect is one of unconventional luxury and unexpected durability.