curator
Lookbook x Hamzeh Alfarahneh
Hamzeh sheds some light on the art of illumination…
To explore LOOKBOOK’s theme – ‘design is more than meets the eye’ – we matched fashion design/creative director/multidisciplinary artist Hamzeh Alfarahneh with a Curved Poppy lamp from contemporary furniture store LIM. We asked Hamzeh to document the experience of living with (the) light in a series of images we turned into a lookbook.
My first impression, while I was blindfolded, was “holy moly, how am I not going to look stupid while unwrapping this!” I realised as I started feeling my way around the piece that it was a standing lamp and I thought, “how serendipitous! I’ve been looking for a lamp for my studio”. When I took off the blindfold, I uncovered this streamlined lamp with a beautiful eye-like shade.
I love how the Curved Poppy lamp lights up my space, especially how the light it casts interacts with the corrugated wall of my studio. The shadows evoke a gorgeous film noir feel.
Living with it has given me a sense of comfort and calm: For obvious reasons this year has been hard and I’ve been drawn to spending my lunch breaks reading or listening to podcasts in the cosy corner of my studio where the Curved Poppy lamp now stands.
It complements my style because it’s streamlined simplicity makes it versatile. My style is ever-evolving and fuelled by curiosity and I can see myself switching the lamp to many different spots in my home and studio.
For my lookbook, I wanted to interrogate light. It features constantly in religious and spiritual terminology and has served as a metaphor for knowledge – light in contradiction to the darkness of ignorance. Light falling on an object illuminates it, and the word ‘illumination’ or ‘illuminating’ is also connected to print matter and manuscripts. It lead me to ultimate metaphor that light is a companion to books. Without light there would be darkness and we wouldn’t see.
To me, “design is more than meets the eye” describes the emotional attachment or sentimentality towards an object and the stories that they take on once they become part of your space. Good design can improve the quality of your life.
Follow Hamzeh and LIM on Instagram: @notjustacreator // @limfurnituresa
Shop LIM here.
