With design works such as Supreme, Shine and Heal, Modernity is a customizable design series exploring nuances of wool texture with surface sculpting and carving techniques. Channelling the inspiration of pure geometric and architectural lines, hand tufted and naturally dyed Irish wool is presented in a series of sleek, minimal and sculptured design forms.
One of the most important eras in the history of architecture, design and art, Modernism represented pivotal change. The built environment that we inhabit today is largely shaped by it, the buildings we live in, the chairs we sit upon and the graphic design that surrounds us have all been influenced by the aesthetics and ideology of Modernist design. Most agree that Modernist art began with the geometric abstraction of Kasimir Malevich. Supreme explores his idea of geometric and minimal form as divine and the artist’s desire to liberate the canvas from the representational world. Elevating the rectangle and clean line to a high art, form and color for Malevich took precedence over other considerations and his arrangement of these elemental shapes had a profound influence on the creative arts including the work of Irish designer Eileen Gray.
Gray produced an array of groundbreaking rug designs notable for extreme simplicity where only the fewest decorative elements are used to maximum effect. Some Gray experts posit her carpet designs suffered the same lack of interest as did her role as a female designer in a male dominated world because of an unfair disregard for the artistic merit of textiles. Also tragically overlooked as a brilliant architect during her lifetime, today Gray’s furniture and rug creations are considered some of the most seminal in the history of 20th Century design. Shine and Empress (coming soon) are Rhyme Studio’s tribute to the vital legacy and influence of Eileen Gray upon women in design today.
Heal, by contrast, is a nod to a potent talisman in Irish culture that symbolizes protection of a home by driving evil, fire and hunger away. Traditionally woven from rushes, imbued with the meaning of peace and goodwill, the architectural beauty of St.Brigid’s Cross became a national symbol after Ireland achieved independence. Yet, long before the arrival of Christianity to Ireland, February 1st was Imbolc, a pagan spring festival now celebrated as St.Brigid’s Day in Ireland. Derived from the lore of a pan Celtic Goddess whose mythical status is evident in cultures from Ireland to France and Germany, the early Celtic Christian church could not deny the cult of this figure and so Brigit or Brigid became known as a saint and a rare symbol of femininity in the patriarchal world of Catholic saints. Reputedly born of a king and raised by a druid, the Irish Brigid was known as the patroness of healers, hence our title for this design. Mara Freeman once stated, ‘Brigit is the nearest thing we have to a Great Mother of the Celts.’
Good design makes us live better and goes beyond the need for sustainable craftsmanship. At Rhyme Studio, we take neuro-aesthetics seriously, a relatively new area of neuroscience that analyzes how worthy design, art and interiors can improve our wellbeing. Offering a host of wellness benefits, our Irish wool carpet or tapestry designs are inspired by or attributed to symbols that represent words connoting wellbeing such as Heal or Health, Peace and Protect from The OM Series II.
