Here, we ask designers to take a selfie and give us an inside look at their life.
Age: 33
Occupation: Furniture designer.
Instagram: @sukrachand.
Hometown: Mills, Massachusetts.
Studio location: Brooklyn.
Describe what you make: I design and build sculptural furniture and mirrors that blend divergent influences and draw from my background in photography and traditional wood craft.
The most important thing you’ve designed to date: I’m really proud of the new Mirazzo Collection that I debuted during NYCxDesign. While I was in Thailand in November, I noticed an affinity between the rustic street furniture of Bangkok and all the terrazzo I’d seen during a recent trip to Italy. I wanted to add to that conversation so I reimagined the Bangkok benches in a new material: mirror-based terrazzo. We cast the pieces entirely out of salvaged scraps from our Gem and Volume Mirror collections. For me, there was a double benefit—we created these visually arresting pieces but also managed to divert our defective materials out of the waste stream and into a new product.
Describe the problem your work solves: I grew up in suburban Massachusetts and spent summers with my father in Thailand. Throughout my life, I’ve never felt like I had a discernible or concrete “home.” I think a lot of people can relate—it’s like, where’s my tribe? Where’s that specific place that feels like it belongs to me? If you’re like me, you can’t answer that question, but you’ve also noticed an alarming trend toward tribalization in our broader society. I want to counter that and celebrate the beauty in the mixing of all things and in living in this richly layered world. So I try to reflect that in my work by blending craft disciplines and cultural histories.
Describe the project you are working on now: I just launched two new side tables that are an update on my Torus Collection from last year. In the original design, I wrapped the bent plywood base in microsuede. The idea was to encourage the act of touch in a world where we spend a lot of time swiping and looking at screens. For these new versions, I returned to my woodworking roots to try and create a similar sense of tactility through the wood structure itself.
What you absolutely have to have in your studio: We finally built a walled-in office within my shared studio—which is essentially a 7,000-square-foot woodworking shop—and at this point I can’t imagine being creative without a dust- and noise-free space with tons of natural light. My toaster oven and Spotify are also essential.
What you do when you’re not working: I go rock climbing regularly and enjoy crosswords. But really I direct all of my spare energy toward travel (or the planning of it). My girlfriend and I try to visit a new city or country in Southeast Asia each year and pretty much just wander and eat. That’s my happy place.
Sources of creative envy: The Band, Lygia Pape, Marta Sala, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Robert Frank.
The distraction you want to eliminate: Fruit flies and mosquitoes.
Concrete or marble? Marble.
High-rise or townhouse? Townhouse.
Remember or forget? Remember it all.
Aliens or ghosts? Aliens.
Dark or light? A bit of both is best.
