“They feel like something from an urban archaeological site,” says artist Cameron Welch of Relics, the new collection of mosaic-clad stools he created in collaboration with the design studio Konekt. “There’s something mythological about them, like they’ve had a life before you saw them.” Growing up in Indianapolis, Welch (now Brooklyn-based) was introduced to mosaic making by his grandmother, with whom he combined rocks, glass, ceramic, and concrete into an elaborate fireplace surround, among other household surfaces. Ever since, Welch has used this age-old medium to piece together thoughts about identity and cultural history, often in large-scale panels and sculptures. With this latest collaboration—an update to Konekt’s Thing stools—he brings those ideas back to a domestic context. “I thought of the materials you often see in contemporary furniture and jumbled them up to create something new,” says Welch, who inlaid cowhide with glass, ceramic, and porcelain that was printed to resemble marble, all lightly showered in spray paint and skirted in horsehair. “Each time you look at one you see something different,” says Helena Sultan, who runs Konekt with her daughter Natasha. “He made these inanimate objects come alive.”
This Brooklyn Artist is Bringing Mosaic Techniques to Modern Furniture
Design studio Konekt taps artist Cameron Welch for a striking new collaboration
Hannah Martin, Architectural Digest, May 26, 2021
