PRODUCT DESIGN / NORWAYANNA MARIA
ØFSTEDAL ENG
Inspired by morphing shapes in nature, and with a desire to set form to imagination, the emerging Norwegian designer Anna Maria Øfstedal Eng, creates abstract objects that expresses quirky aesthetics with an organic design language. With an intuitive approach to the material she works with, Øfstedal Eng, develops objects that lie between the borders of applied art and sculpture.
Interview by:
Anna Maria Øfstedal Eng
Photography by:
Photo and styling: Boga Studio
Model: Phylicia Da Silva
Cloths: Soy Au Lait
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The mysteries, shapes, and materials of the Norwegian lush nature fascinates, and in the creation of her objects, she lets morphing formations control and beautify the end result in her design. By pushing boundaries with her abstract design language, she hopes to challenge both consumers and producers by being a counterweight to perfection and identical products made by the masses.
The peculiar objects challenges and appears as a living interpretation of the traditional woodcarving profession.
“I want to give consumers objects that are different, the unusual, the strange, and the quirky - or the real and vulnerable - as a counterpoint to all the perfect and identical products in the world. For me, design is a personal way of expression, where I hope the object itself can be the sculpture which creates engagement with its material, shape, and story. Objects that challenge the industrial design expression of the masses, and shows the emotional value by embracing abstract design language as an important part of the interior of the home.”
- Anna Maria Øfstedal Eng
MORF (2020)
Old barrels, cups, and vessels have been given new life and new function when the designer has explored the metal casting craft that has long traditions in Gudbrandsdalen, Norway, where she has her origins. Recycled tin products are carefully melted in a pot and then poured into a plaster form that shapes the solid and modern bookend Morf. Here, the recycling of materials are paramount, and the result is new contemplative and unique sculptural object.
There is something fascinating about sculptures. Something that always engages. The material use. The experimentation. Form. And product story. Something that triggers the eye. Something that makes you cringe, in a good way. Curiosity. Aesthetic details that catches the eye, on all sides of the object. New, interesting details arise when observing the object from a different angle. Or another view. Detailed elements in each organic arc.
In every curve. In such objects, you will always experience aesthetics differently. An aesthetic experience that also creates an emotional connection and possibly a longer product life cycle. A product you want to keep, and have for generations. Emotional product attachments, values that are important in the future of design.
MORF (2020)
Old barrels, cups, and vessels have been given new life and new function when the designer has explored the metal casting craft that has long traditions in Gudbrandsdalen, Norway, where she has her origins. Recycled tin products are carefully melted in a pot and then poured into a plaster form that shapes the solid and modern bookend Morf. Here, the recycling of materials are paramount, and the result is new contemplative and unique sculptural object.
The eternal quality of sculpture and art has always fascinated her design language, where she wants to create interesting objects embedded with curiosity that constantly add something new within their form. Objects that both can be a sculpture and a product, where the form and function established an aesthetic connection between applied art and sculpture. Objects you can look at. Reflect upon. Use and take care of. The creation of the organic objects Morf, Skabeloner and Uben follow this way of thinking. All of them are sculptural objects or art pieces, morphing into different kind of shapes and forms. Objects for beautiful contemplation. Objects that allow for interpretation. Furthermore, objects with function. One can assume that it is such objects that will reign the future of design, where the focus is no longer on adding a pure function, but also adding an abstract form to function, where the objects itself appeals as much to the heart as to the brain.
UBEN (2019)
Uben is a series of sculptural stoneware vases inspired by nature’s organic silhouettes and contours, from jagged cliffs to rugged tree burs to even layers of the mountains.
Their bodies morph into leg like appendages becoming dynamic, living beings. Beings you can have as sculptures in your living room or decorate with foliage.
ABOUT THE DESIGNER
Anna Maria Øfstedal Eng (b.1993) graduated with a Master in Product design from Oslo Metropolitan University, where she explored abstract, yet functional and aesthetic expressions in local materials, such as spalted birch and Norwegian blue clay. Her objects are developed intuitively and experimentally, in an aesthetic interaction between the hand and the machine. Her objects are often seen as rarities or uniquely, where quirky aesthetics are her field of interest. Inspired by the nature and its naturals materials, shapes, and forms meet together in new interpretations.
She is currently developing new ideas and prototypes in her new design studio in Oslo. Furthermore, in September 2020, she was awarded “Årets Kunsthåndverk” designprize from Bo Bedre Magazine Norway.