Charlotte Kingsnorth

1. What motivates you to make?

I think it is really part of who I am and the creative process helps me make sense of the world. I have an inquisitive nature and always want to learn new things. As a multi-disciplinary designer, I constantly seek to learn new processes and play with materials I have not yet worked with.

2. What and/or who are you most inspired or influenced by?

My intuition plays heavily in the making process, what feels right or wrong, the sense of space around it. I like to discover new processes and types of manufacture, either by visiting factories and workshops or through deep searches on youtube. With my lichen patina bronze pieces, I worked closely with a patina specialist to push the process in a new direction. I like playing with juxtapositions, such as mixing the bronze plate – which is warm in colour but cold to touch – and experimenting with industrial, yet luxurious, metal. There is a level of indeterminacy with my work and it’s uninteresting for me to know the exact outcome before I get there, I like there to be space for discoveries. I am interested in peoples' connection to objects, both psychologically and physically, and this feeds back into the work I produce. The tactile nature of different materials draws me in and brings a human element to things, a feeling of wanting to be touched and loved and a sense of comfort. I like seeing people interact with the objects I make.

3. What is your unique approach to your craft, and how have you honed your skills?

I like to cut through traditional craft techniques and hack into industrial processes as a type of art form. I am interested in the deconstruction of archetypes, dismantling the identity of an object and cross-pollinating typologies and methods of making.

I like to carve a character from the materials I work with and ingrain a sense of permanency to help form a relationship between the object and the owner. That conflict in design between functionality and aesthetics is exciting and I love the play between handcrafted and industrial processes and materials. Soft malleable materials represent something human to me, and I like mixing these with something more rigid, to explore that relationship between subject and object.

4. What is your defining or proudest moment as a maker so far?

Probably my first solo show with The New Craftsmen, Processing Lichen & Other Matter. I was commissioned to create a lichen patina collection for London Craft Week in 2019, and worked on a new style of applying and layering patina to bronze plate, which I had rolled and brazed into furniture, using lichen samples to inform the mark making, textures and colours. From two large sheets of bronze I made a console table, a coffee table, two polished bronze mirrors, two pendant lights, three sconces and three candlestick holders. Even the fixtures were made from hand crafted and brazed bronze – every last scrap was used! Alongside this we invited a selection of artists, designers and craftspeople to make work within this idea of industrialising natural content.

5. What is your dream project?

I would love to design a whole space and the objects that sit within it, like a very bespoke and characterful mini world. I would really push my knowledge of materiality and stretch out, and roll around, in exploration.