Exhibited as part of Colony Presents at New York’s Colony, Toronto’s Mary Ratcliffe Studio shows off four new works, including its first-ever lighting collection and upholstered piece. The theme of the collection is “Hold Me.” Ratcliffe explains, “Most furniture hides the parts that do the holding: the brace, the joint, the collar that secures a shade. Hold Me brings them forward and finishes them as the focal point of each design.” This is also a deeply personal series. “The collection started from watching my boys grow and realizing how much they still needed to be held, albeit in a less literal sense. The parts that support and hold up each piece are brought forward and celebrated as integral to the design instead of being hidden away.” 

Mary Ratcliffe Studio worked with Harnisch Lamps on the lighting: the Strata Hanging Light in oiled walnut with polished aluminum and glass globes, and the Moore Floor Lamp in wire-brushed ash in an “iron oxide” finish with polished aluminum hardware, glass globes and a linen shade. Meanwhile, the oak Jasper Dining Table, with its cylindrical cross-brace in polished aluminum, is paired with the Cinch Dining Chair; for this first-of-its-kind piece for the studio, Mary Ratcliffe collaborated with Toronto-based artist Kelli Kikcio, who created the hand-embroidered chain motif that runs across the chair’s mohair seat and back, a symbol of strength in connectivity.