Designer, artist, and Royal College of Art graduate Ying Chang runs her own product design studio in London, where she gives form to amazing, imaginable objects and designs. An obsession with shape and form from a young age drove Chang into designing bespoke furniture with meaning, experiences of objects that aim to give people something a fresh, new perspective. She’s constantly exploring new mediums – the latest being paper.
The Malleable State collection is the results of testing a new crafting technique on paper, expanding its limits as a durable material
The Malleable State collection is a selection of bespoke furniture and interior objects created with a process that evolved from an experimental project among Chang’s earlier work. The collection explores the characteristics of paper while expanding on the limits we normally attribute to the medium. By layering sheets of paper with glue, malleable, treatable material is created which enables Chang to mold various forms, chairs, tables, and more, and freezing them “in them in time” as the material dries and hardens. The process challenges the perception of value in the material, by applying a traditional craft treatment technique, to a more common material. The method transforms the normally fragile material paper into a powerful new substance that can bear the strength of wood while having the aesthetic of leather or clay.
“I chose paper as my medium for the reason that it is just one of the most normally utilized and discarded elements. By applying a craft technique to paper, I was in a position to check out and grow its charismatic boundaries. The outcomes reflect and participate in on our notion of value”, Chang explains.
“I chose paper as my medium because it is one of the most commonly used and discarded materials,” noted Chang about the collection. “By applying a craft approach to paper, I was able to explore and expand its charismatic limits. The results reflect and play on our perception of value.”
The collection includes a selection of furnishings and homeware, grown regularly by the addition of shelves, mirrors, and vases, as well as tables and stools. While the creation method transforms the characteristics and properties of paper greatly, almost on a cellular level, the material still stays recognizable. Chang chooses to work with layers of sheets of paper, rather than turning them into pulp, leaving a crumpled, manipulated paper look into effect, we all recognize so well. The perception of the material so familiar to us all is challenged and turned upside-down, in an interesting, compelling way.
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