Maya Screens - Collaboration with Garnier et Linker

2020 | Providence, Rhode Island USA.

Folding screens using handmade washi papers encased in cherry and walnut wood.

A long-distance collaboration with French designers Garnier et Linker began during the onset of the COVID 19 pandemic. With combined visions, we experimented with distilling aspects of fiber preparation and traditional processes to highlight subtle manipulation of color and texture in raw materials, resulting in two variations of screens.

Presented at Milan Design Week, 2022

The Process

Textural gradient - Fiber preparation began with cooking, cleaning, and hand-beating mitsumata bark to result in the lustrous and strong fibers notable in Japanese paper-making.

Colour depth - Layering thin handmade sheets of kozo fibers, each dyed with multiple coats of kakishibu (fermented persimmon dye). Natural holes and variation in thickness from sheet formation gave way to areas of depth and ripples when meticulously mounted together.