Here, we ask designers to take a selfie and give us an inside look at their life.
Age: 30
Occupation: Designers, photographers.
Instagram: @astraeusclarke
Hometown: Alpine, UT.
Studio location: Brooklyn.
Describe what you make: Sculptural lighting that inspires human connection by using a variety of materials, engineering, and fabrication methods.
The most important thing you’ve designed to date: Our first collection that just launched in August. This series is very important to us because it was inspired by multiple important personal moments in our life. It’s also the official start of our studio, which has been in the works for too long a time. These pieces symbolize an exciting new step forward in our careers.
Describe the problem your work solves: We believe being surrounded by beautiful things creates joy, and let’s be honest: We can always use more joy, feelings of inspiration, and a glamorous welcome home. Most of our fixtures have an interactive human element. For example, the Tinge series can be dimmed by spinning the tinted glass or the Roebling can be pivoted for directional light. These interactive features have been inspired by objects with surprising, thoughtful functionalities—like when we found out that the hole in the middle of our wooden spoon is actually a tool for measuring one serving of spaghetti. This same playful yet functional mindset is used when designing most of our fixtures.
Describe the project you are working on now: We’re currently making three new variations of our pieces (Alpine, Lenox, and Roebling) that haven’t been done before for the gallery Lovehouse in Soho.
A new or forthcoming project we should know about: We’ll be having a solo show during NYCxDesign. Stay tuned for more details.
What you absolutely must have in your studio: Trader Joe’s Takis, an espresso machine for morning cortados and afternoon americanos, and a Bossanova album spinning.
What you do when you’re not working: Cooking and eating with friends, a late-night disco boogie, or taking a walk through the neighborhood or down to the river to say hi to the skyline.
Sources of creative envy: The universe via the James Webb telescope, the impressionist section at The Met, Donald Judd, and architecture that considers its surroundings, for instance, Russel Wright’s Manitoga home.
The distraction you want to eliminate: We definitely don’t want to eliminate them, but the cute cat colony that lives on the rooftop outside our office window is pretty distracting. “Cat”-aloging the mannerisms, size, and colors of all 18 of them is not necessarily time well spent… or is it?
Concrete or marble? Marble.
High-rise or townhouse? Townhouse.
Remember or forget? Forget.
Aliens or ghosts? Aliens.
Dark or light? Light (but not too bright)!
