Spec Sheet: Maelen Cabinet by Alara Alkan Studio

It’s the power of transformation that strikes designer Alara Alkan when she’s immersed in nature; the Designer’s Residency alum looks to the tides, sun, and wind and their abilities to shift and exist in new forms for design inspo. That reverence is eminent in her debut collection for Colony, with its deft manipulation of raw material honoring the intrinsic qualities of the wood in metamorphosis. Be it the sand-blasted Douglas Fir comprising her Maelen Cabinet or the tapered White Oak columns of her Madra Floor lamp, Alkan's work exudes a visual lightness and tactile intrigue.

Speaking to her process and influences for this collection, Alkan notes, “I view all my works as fragments of one big, ongoing story, where my pieces are often linked or related in terms of their ideas, materials, and aesthetics, across time. I’m inspired by Venezuelan artist Carlos Cruz-Diez and many others that are part of the kinetic arts movement. The play between stillness and motion just by the appearance of a line really drives how I approach form and texture. His work helps me understand motion, transition and space.”