Incollect Magazine - Issue 13

Incollect Magazine 23 jewelry. “One day, while casting jewelry, I noticed accidental runs on the sand and saw I could make bigger metal pieces with the same technique, pouring the liquid metal onto sand and allowing unexpected forms to emerge. So I asked Umberto to pour the liquid metal into the sand, under my direction, and then we waited for the shapes and forms to come out.” Spontaneity and chance continue to guide her furniture designs. Saint Lager might begin with an idea of what form she is looking for, but the metal, once poured into the sand, takes on a life of its own. Every piece is spontaneous and unique because she does not change the final forms; she might smooth out the edges or polish in places, but allows the objects to retain their solidified original shape. “I find the naturalness inspiring,” she says. Top designers agree. "There is a celestial quality to Hélène's work that feels to me so inspired,” AD100 designer Kelly Behun remarks. Recently, Behun commissioned one of Saint Lager’s Moon Gold Nuages chandeliers, made out of poured aluminum with a gold leaf finish that, Behun says, “does the most magical things in the room, especially as the changing light plays upon it. It feels like the ceiling has cracked open to the sky above and the loveliest cumulus clouds are floating by.” Nature is her biggest inspiration, Saint Lager says, the place from which she draws ideas. But she doesn't replicate what she sees: "Everything is done with intuition. What emerges is unconscious," she explains, though what results often seems to reflect the random, fluid forms or processes of natural phenomena: fossilization of rocks, atmospherics, or the labyrinthine intricacy of the cosmos and its otherworldly beauty. Nenuphar (Water Lily) Side Table, patinated bronze and resin. Limited edition of eight, signed and numbered, 2020.