By design - GLITHERO

A moment of serendipity in lockdown led to the latest creation by Glithero, the London-based design partnership of Tim Simpson and Sarah van Gameren, who describes how their ‘Hold Me’ vases came to life after a moment of playful spontaneity.

“These are light-sensitive vases that capture [the impression of] hands. It happened when we were working in a dark room on our other ceramic vases, usually printed with botanical specimens,” Van Gameren recalls. “Tim threw the vase to me while light exposure was happening – consequently, our hands were captured and photographed on the vase.”

Simpson and Van Gameren founded their practice in 2008 after studying at the Royal College of Art in London, later setting up an extensive workshop space in Finsbury Park, north London (they also flit back and forth to the Netherlands, Van Gameren’s home country). The pair bonded at college, helping each other to assemble their graduate works.

The Hold Me project made the pair think about what matters in the wake of the Covid-19 turmoil. “The main things that we missed during the pandemic were making things with the team and the sense of touch,” Van Gameren says. “We realized these things are very important to our practice, so we pursued a project that incorporated these elements.”

The vases, part of a joint project with JamesPlumb design studio in London, are available from Gallery FUMI, which also sells the couple’s Les French furniture line (launched in 2009), a collection of tables, side tables and shelves built on bamboo frames cast in bronze.

Beyond the furniture, Glithero also makes mesmerising time-based installations such as the 2016 Green Room piece at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, a kinetic work made of silicone cords that rose and fell above visitors’ heads in a wave-like motion.

The work typifies their approach, reflecting their conceptual rigor and passion for the processes behind production. “We’re driven by the satisfaction you get from understanding the real value in the moment that something is created,” Van Gameren says. “It’s less about pure innovation. It’s about finding the essence of a product and guiding people to the one moment of making that is relevant.”