Multimedia multidisciplinarians Mathery Studio dally in all sorts of fields. Their linking theme? Fun.
Italian designers Erika Zorzi and Matteo Sangalli met when they were applying for the Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti in Milan. At Mathery Studio they work across various products, video and exhibition design, turning out concepts ranging from handmade ceramics cast from fruit skins, to the Daliesque dreamscape cloth Con-Vivio (pictured here), which was designed and made for the National Gallery of Victoria’s Italian Masterpieces exhibit.
Tell us about your design process, Matteo.
Everything we work on starts from a problem, or a very, very simple fact. When we were asked to design Pastello, the kids’ space for National Gallery of Victoria, for example, we just started from a tool that kids have used for decades, the oil pastel, and went from there.
What role does food play in your work, Erika?
Food is something that people really get straight away.
Our Fruit Wares collection, for example, is five vessels made using different fruit skins to create texture. One day you might touch one of our vessels and even if you don’t know anything about the process – about the fact that we have cut the skins, assembled them, and then cast a mould – you can recall it immediately from the touch, and are also surprised by it.
