Here, we ask designers to take a selfie and give us an inside look at their life.
Age: 37
Occupation: Lighting and furniture designer.
Instagram: @hollisandmorris
Hometown: Toronto.
Studio location: Toronto.
Describe what you make: Handmade furniture and lighting that balances modern style, a commitment to function, and a distinctive approach to aesthetic, using natural materials such as sustainably grown and harvested solid wood, metals, and hand blown glass.
The most important thing you’ve designed to date: The Bloom Collection (Willows and Catkins). From an industry standpoint, it really solidified the brand’s status as both furniture and lighting, whereas I previously felt we were just looked at for elevated architectural lighting.
Personally, it was a sign of the confidence I now have as a lighting designer. I’ve been able to shed my impostor syndrome (as much as is ever possible as a creative). Staying true to original sources of inspiration definitely helped and I’m really proud of the risk it felt like at the time. It’s incredibly rewarding and validating to see it being accepted by the design community.
Describe the problem your work solves: Bringing nature inside. It can be hard to feel connected to the natural world in many modern and contemporary designed spaces. I’m hugely inspired by nature and repeating natural patterns. To that end, we have to respect nature, which is why we’ve chosen to only use White Oak and Walnut as they can be sustainably grown and harvested. They’re local to North America, which keeps our ecological footprint low because it reduces the amount of transportation required to arrive at our manufacturing facility in Toronto.
Describe the project you are working on now: Our first-ever upholstered furniture collection. I’m also currently in the middle of designing and building my new family home, which was actually the impetus for our first soft-goods collection. I wanted my home to feel like an extension of the hollis+morris universe, and realized the best way to do so would be to create the major pieces that live within a home myself. For this project, I teamed up with an architect friend who I’ve known since my time at Dalhousie. He’s actually one of the friends who inspired me to leave my marine biology career behind for more creative endeavors. His opinion and experience have become invaluable as a sounding board and design ally.
The inspiration for the upholstered collection came from the Atlantic tides and power movement of water. Pieces rise from a formidable solid wood base and barrel wave-shaped cushion detail.
A new or forthcoming project we should know about: We’re working on a new manufacturing and showroom facility. I started hollis+morris alone in a two-car garage, so to be moving into a new 14,000-square-foot space is a dream come true. A big, daunting, sometimes overwhelming dream come true. The new space will be a creative hub of designers and craftspeople, finally giving us the opportunity to have everyone under the same roof. We’ve been wanting to create an environment where our team of devoted, agile, and adaptable people thrive as we continue our growth as a brand.
What you absolutely must have in your studio: Tools for creating! Many different kinds of weird and wonderful materials. I never know where inspiration is going to strike and if not from nature, it’s usually from a material or form. So surrounding myself with every little offcut or scrap I find interesting is a creative must.
What you do when you’re not working: I like to unwind by spending time with my family, and getting out in nature to disconnect from technology and release creativity.
Sources of creative envy: More time to immerse myself in hands-on creation.
The distraction you want to eliminate: Production mishaps.
Concrete or marble? Marble.
High-rise or townhouse? Neither.
Remember or forget? Forget!
Aliens or ghosts? Aliens for sure.
Dark or light? Light.
