SPECTRAL

2023 - ongoing. Paper clay on wire, tape, cardboard

Not for sale.

This started as a tiny ball of stripped electrical wire, wrapped in tape and covered in paper clay. It has since turned into a handful of model structures that I am still developing and evolving.

In my architecture practice I often work in Revit, which is arguably one of the least exciting modeling approaches there is, and one of the least friendly to curved mass. These figures are where I go for refuge. I start with a mass of basic material, chicken wire for example, and push, pull and smoosh it into a form I’m intrigued by. Then I wrap it in tape, cardboard, plastic strips, etc., and watch how the shape evolves. Then it gets covered in a specific paper clay formula.

I keep not putting a finish layer on them, because I love the raw, rough, speckled look of the clay. Instead I’m experimenting with what goes into the mix to control the color: charred wood, possibly coal sourced from a project site, and a few other natural pigments I’m eyeing. The color would come from inside the material and not sit on top of it.

These are in part a study of volume and massing for a club concept in collaboration with my architecture studio Solstice Design Studio. The other part is the delight of making a mass and seeing what it turns into, and of working with rudimentary materials to get at things like belonging, place, experience and connection.

Two books have been with me the whole way: Night Fever: Designing Club Culture 1960-Today (Vitra Design Museum, 2018) & Transatlantic Drift: The Ebb and Flow of Dance Music (Reaktion Books, 2025)

This is a series in the works.