Hudson Valley-based design practice Fern has expanded its offerings with its inaugural lighting collection, a considerately edited and material-driven series. A focused and intentional expansion into illumination, the collection includes table lamps, floor lamps and sconces, with each one exploring the tension that lies between weight and lightness.
The inaugural lighting collection from Fern juxtaposes a range of hardy materials — sand-cast bronze, laminated hardwood, cast aluminum, blackened steel and solid oak — with softer ones, like hand-laced goat parchment and hand-cast fibreglass. The choice of materials is deliberate, with the parchment (sourced locally) expressing natural tonal variations and unique markings, while the fibreglass lends a contemporary and monolithic counterpoint that creates soft diffusion at large scales.
Architectural forms are referenced in some pieces of Fern’s inaugural lighting collection; for example, the monolithic Ned and Bill floor lamps read like subtly softened column structures and the Torre table lamp takes inspiration from both brutalist architecture and the lighting found at Casa Luis Barragan.
Nature and its forms also served as inspiration for the inaugural lighting collection from Fern. Named for the River Spey in Scotland, the articulated swing and sinuous lines of the Spey wall lamp echo the sweeping cast of the fly fishing the river is famously known for; and the Stony wall sconce nods to the textural variances of the rocky and rugged Atlantic coastline.
Crafted in collaboration with local fabricators, the inaugural lighting collection from Fern makes a stunning complement to the design practice’s sculptural furniture. In fact, as studio founder Jason Roskey notes, the new pieces were conceived using shapes and ideas that had been explored for furniture but never executed.
