May 6, 2016

Patagonian Glaciers Inspire Fernando Mastrangelo’s New Drift Collection

Fernando Mastrangelo has unveiled a new collection of sculptural furnishings as part of his DRIFT Collection being showcased at Collective Design. Inspired by sojourns through Patagonia—where he traversed the world’s largest glacier—and the Grand Canyon’s natural earth formations, the artist harnessed his expertise with natural materials to fashion the collection’s various pieces, most of which are unique and limited edition.

Consisting of a bench, mirror, sofa, coffee table, and side table, DRIFT marks Mastrangelo’s first use of sand as a primary material. Sand, he explains, offers unmatched flexibility at emulating color palettes while still maintaining a rougher tactility. Each piece appears icy cold to the touch, achieved by the stony surfaces’ ombre cerulean shades. Necessary flat surfaces (benches and tabletops) present smooth-as-silk consistency through cast gypsum concrete, one of Mastrangelo’s favorite materials.

The collection juxtaposes rugged strata and the upscale refinement of luxury furnishings, with multiple pieces infusing contrasting elements to leave a lasting impression. Such is evident in the silk velvet-upholstered sofa that combines icy textures with sultry, alluring comfort. A wall-mounted circular mirror offers a birds-eye view of a glacier, which Mastrangelo describes as “topographically-inspired.”

DRIFT signals a pivotal point in Mastrangelo’s career as the first major release through his newly established namesake studio, FM/s. But aside from the occasional wanderlust and continuous experiments with atypically conventional materials, new opportunities continue to keep Mastrangelo occupied. A recent partnership with furniture giant Restoration Hardware is spreading his textured wall sculptures to residential and hospitality projects worldwide, and a major fashion house just commissioned his life-size installations for their new palatial London headquarters.

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