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In/Organic: Seed and Unfurl by Bec Brittain

Madeleine Parsons
Next Tuesday we will present IN/Organic, an exhibition of Bec Brittain's latest body of work, dual lighting collections that maintains the studio's engineering rigor, passed through a softer, organic lens. Seed is inspired by the rigorous systems which undergird the natural world while Unfurl takes more direct inspiration from botanical fluidity. Bec credits the development of these collections to her personal journey and connection with the natural world. 
 
Last Spring, in the throes of New York design week, Bec shared images of the many blooms in her garden. One of her roses had first bloomed soft yellow with a maroon center before blending into pink and lilac hues. The transformation offered her a reminder "that as we age we don't get better or worse, just different." We are inspired by the simplicity of this sentiment and have been wondering how Bec's gardening practice informed the design of her latest collections, Seed and Unfurl? 
 
"What I learned from my time spent with nature through the last few years was how to have my role be one of guide and conduit, where I distill forms and structures into their essences," says Bec. "This work retains my thoughtful precision and material integrity, while exploring a new type of authorship." 
 

IN/Organic by Bec Brittain
Tuesday, June 17
6:00 -9:00 PM
196 West Broadway 
Entrance on Varick 

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You're Invited: IN/Organic by Bec Brittain

jeanlin

Bec Brittain's storied collection of lighting introduces IN/Organic, the studio's most significant introduction of new work in four years. 

Colony is honored to present an exhibition of this body of work that maintains the studio's famed engineering rigor, passed through a softer, organic lens. This lens is a reflection of Bec's personal journey and connection with the natural world and the resulting pieces are utterly unique in their juxtaposition of design elements. 

Join us to toast this astonishing collection, and Bec herself.

IN/Organic by Bec Brittain
Tuesday, June 17
6:00 -9:00 PM
196 West Broadway 
Entrance on Varick 

...

Will you be attending?

You currently can invite 1 more people.

The Independents: A Recap

Madeleine Parsons
Partial Works on View: 

Wrap/Hinge Screen, KWH
White oak, Leather, Brass
96"W x  7/8"D x 72"H (48 rods)

April Scrap Quilt, M.Callahan Studio
Cotton and linen fabric patchwork
80" W x 80" H (King Size)

Rocking Rock Stool, Thomas Yang Studio
Pine, River Stone
12.5" W x 12.5" D x 17" H 

Stalagmite & Stalactite, Bec Brittain
Brass, Copper, Hand blown glass, LEDs
10"Dia x 63"H (floor light)
8.5"Dia x 16.5"H (pendant)

Still Gaze, M.Pei Studio
Aluminum,Glass
19W" x 12"D x 20"H

 

More Of

Take a closer look at some of the artful, limited edition works created for The Independents...

Studio Paolo Ferrari


Okia Pendant
Brass, Steel
18"W x 120"H

SSS Atelier


Curious Cabinet
Black Cherry, Rossa alicante marble, Velvet
39.5" W x 23"D x 67"H

Scheibe Design


Cumberland Plinth
Multi Species (walnut, oak, cherry); Painted maple
10" W x 15"D x 22.5"H

Colony at Shelter: Flood The Zone

Madeleine Parsons

Shelter, the exciting new NYC design fair reinvigorating the city, will host Flood the Zone, a series of talks curated and produced by gallerist and author Jean Lin, May 17-19, 2025. 

Rather than shying away from discordant conversations, Flood the Zone will use future-facing analysis and shared knowledge to foster open dialogue. 

Join us as industry and culture leaders explore how to use our creative voices as a tool for positive disruption. 

In order to register for complimentary trade access, please register here. Non-trade friends and family, please use our discount code: TALKTOME.

 

REGISTER HERE

Colony at Shelter: Booth #A57

Thomas Yang

Introduced in 2023, The Designer's Residency draws upon a rich foundation of curation, design education, and collaborative design development to introduce the next generation of Colony designers. Eleven years of Colony and three years of The Residency have culminated in the work which will present at Shelter this May, 17-19. 

This exhibition will bring together five Residency alumni—M.Pei Studio, Ember Studio, Thomas Yang Studio, Alara Alkan Studio, and Marmar Studio. Though each studio carries a distinct background and artistic approach, they are bound by a shared commitment to exploration and expression. Their works speak in varied design languages, yet all offer reflections on how we see, shape, and inhabit the world. Shelter unveils their latest creations—objects that carry personal visions, collective memories, and a quiet invitation to imagine new ways of being. 

In order to register for complimentary trade access, please register here. Non-trade friends and family, please use our discount code: TALKTOME.

 

REGISTER HERE

Notes from the Curator: An Invitation to the Independents

Madeleine Parsons

Year after year, our May group shows are fraught with stress. Yes, the physical and creative labor of making new work, but also the emotional strain of putting that work out on a limb for the world to see. Since our first exhibition 11 years ago, the nights and weeks leading up to the opening are always spent in an unhealthy realm where adrenaline and sleep deprivation weigh equally, pushing us over the finish line. I thought that after more than a decade, this process would become less arduous, but in fact, it may be even more so. 

This is the dichotomy; the beauty and the pain—the intense pride and crushing self doubt—the rush of exhilaration and impossible exhaustion of putting work that is solely your own into the world. This is both the reality of the independent practitioner and the heart of this year’s show. 

This year, our 11th in business, we asked our current designers, a select group of alumni, and graduates of our residency program to articulate their "why" through the work. We asked our designers—past, present and future: Why did you choose this path paved with unending challenge? What drives you to keep going?

The resulting exhibit will be a love letter to the spirit of the independent designer, and the meaning behind the work. THE INDEPENDENTS encapsulates my very own "why." My belief in the independent spirit is limitless, and so is my awe. 

Please join me on May 8 to celebrate together.

In shared community,
Jean Lin

 

The Independents
Thursday, May 8
6:00 -9:00 PM
196 West Broadway 
Entrance on Varick 

The deadline to RSVP for this event has passed.

Meet Our Residents: Another.World, MTM Studio, Studio B.C. Joshua

Madeleine Parsons

The third year of Colony's Designer's Residency culminates next week on April 17th at 6PM, please join us then as we introduce the design world to three dynamic, emerging studios:

Another.World will present an exploration into their vulnerable inner worlds with the From Elsewhere collection; Studio B.C. Joshua brings his ancestral history to life with the Harlem Cottage collection; and MTM Studio looks closely at historical influences with their elemental and material-driven Recent Relics collection. We caught up with each studio to delve into the inspiration behind their work. 

The deadline to RSVP for this event has passed.

ANOTHER.WORLD

Artist, designer, and maker Youtian Duan and visual storyteller Yingxi Ji are the creative minds behind Another.World, an innovative design studio dedicated to reimagining the relationship between humans, inanimate objects, and nature. Their unconventional and humorous projects are gateways to an imagined realm, a safe and inclusive space where individuality shines. 

Youtian and Yingxi, where did you draw inspiration for the "From Elsewhere" collection?

Y&Y: From Elsewhere was born out of our wild, untamed imaginations and brings to life remnants of dreams and glitches in reality. To us, objects are not just objects. They are alive with their own magic, purpose and untold stories.

INQUIRE

STUDIO B.C. JOSHUA

Blake Carlson-Joshua’s work, of Studio B.C. Joshua, is infused with a unique blend of cultural and environmental influences, producing expressive furnishings that balance rawness with nostalgia, the rough and the refined, the ephemeral and the grounded. Blake splits his practice between London and his Minneapolis hometown. 

Blake, how did you find your way into the "Harlem Cottage" collection?

B: I took initial inspiration from the empowerment of the Harlem Renaissance, a period when artistic expression opened new conversations about identity and belonging in American culture. The pieces in this collection draw from that legacy of quiet transformation, were creativity helped reshape perspectives about community and place. 

Each pieces aims to integrate seamlessly into settings where people gather, rest and connect with nature—continuing a conversation about leisure that belongs to everyone. 

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MTM STUDIO

Brooklyn-based Maxwell Taylor-Milner of MTM Studio combines their background in design and art history to create work that engages not only the expressive capacity of materials but the history of the forms into which they are molded. In work at once essayistic and enigmatic, they strive to make objects that are as compelling conceptually as they are tactile. 

Max, how did the desert landscape of your childhood in northern New Mexico inform the "Recent Relics" collection?

M: Growing up in the desert, I was always finding artifacts in the dirt. Recent Relics reflects on the elemental effects of nature and how light, heat, and water shape the land and everything on it. I wanted for each single object to show evidence of the system that created it. 

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Palette: Let There Be Light

Madeleine Parsons

 

Legume Lamp

Standard Materials: Wood, Brass,
Kozo Paper, and Rattan
Dimensions: 11” L x 8” W x 28” H
Lead Time: In-Stock

 
PURCHASE

 

Phaedra Horizontal

Standard Materials: Finished Brass, Clear Glass Prisms
Dimensions: 33” x 9.4” x 5.1”H
Lead Time: 16 weeks

 
INQUIRE

 

Casa Busetti

Standard Materials: Cherry, River Stone
Dimensions: 3.25” L x 3.75”W x 33”H
Lead Time: In-Stock

INQUIRE

 

Aria Pendant

Standard Materials:  Brass, Glass and Acrylic
Dimensions: 12: 15.75”H x 12ø
Lead Time: 16-18 weeks

 
INQUIRE

 

Madra Table Lamp

Standard Materials:  Bleached ash, White linen
Dimensions: 9”Dia x 30”H
Lead Time: In-Stock

 
INQUIRE

 

Souvenir Table Lamp

Standard Materials: Metal 
Dimensions: 10”L x 4”W x 2”H
Lead Time: In-stock

 
PURCHASE

MORE OF

Options for when you need a lamp that stands on its own...

KWH | Tripod Floor Lamp

A classic silhouette elevated by bleached ash and nickel hardware. 

 

Kawabi | Souvenir Floor Lamp

The brass centerpiece of the Souvenir Floor Lamp is not only decorative but functions as a conductive switch.

 

Bec Brittain | Unfurl Floor Light

Each leaf of Bec Brittain's Unfurl Collection is able to spin on its axis, allowing for adjustment of light direction. 

 

You're Invited: The Designer's Residency 2025

Madeleine Parsons

Working from a rich foundation of curation, design education, and collaborative design development, our third annual residency culminates on April 17th as we introduce the next generation of Colony designers. Following our intensive eight month incubator, we're proud to launch three nascent studios into not only Colony's collection but also the independent design world. 

 

Another.World

MTM Studio

Studio B.C. Joshua

 

Join us to celebrate the future of design. 

The Designers' Residency Opening Reception
Thursday, April 17
6:00 -9:00 PM
196 West Broadway 
Entrance on Varick 

The deadline to RSVP for this event has passed.