Poppy Lawman

Poppy lives and works in Oslo. Through an experimental approach, she creates design functional pieces that offer us an experience and connect us to our environment, to the material. Discovery.

Hello Poppy. Could you introduce yourself? 

I am a designer / maker based in Oslo, Norway. My studio and workshop is located high in a rooftop above a bustling street in the heart of the city, yet somehow so high above the bustle there's an unexpected stillness and calm. A perfect place to allow the hand and mind to wander and create. Here is where I develop furniture and objects based on a slow and thoughtful mindset, objects I hope that will enhance and connect us more deeply to our experiences or that which surrounds us. Part sculpture and part utilitarian, the objects are often aimed to be enjoyed as much out of use, as in use. My background is in art and sculpture but somehow along the way I found design and the concept of slow design has kept be deep in thought ever since.

You define your work as "playful, sculptural and slow". Can you tell us more about this approach?

Through my work, I try to arouse curiosity and create a connection to materials and what surrounds us. Often, I use playfulness, the sculptural dimension and a certain “slow-design” as a basis for my work. These ideas can be explored in a multitude of ways. In today's climate of overconsumption and excessive waste, the goal is to create objects that connect us on a deeper level rather than purely functionally. Objects that touch our hearts. Objects that become memories, rather than waste.

What place does experimentation take in your creation process?

I am always exploring different materials and techniques. I think as designers, we can only imagine so much, but with a material in our hands there are so many more unknown possibilities that we could not have imagined. For those reasons I find exploring materials very important and I am often making tests and models. I keep these models around to remind me, inspire me, and hopefully evolve into future ideas and directions.

What do you like about working with wood?

Wood is just a delightful material. Us humans keep exploring its possibilities and capabilities and it always seems that one can find a new way to look at it or a new way to make with it. I never get tired of it as a material even though us designers use it everywhere, it is a kind, gentle, warm material that will always be welcome in the home in it’s various and multitude of forms. Steam Bending and how I have used it in the Bue Brushes is just one the many ways in which to explore and utilise wood, and a technique that has been used for thousands of years.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

I find much inspiration in the small moments of life and how one can evolve them positively through form and material. I often will take a small experience or action and draft out all it’s facets and ponder over how I can make even one more facet more pleasurable. A material in itself can be cause for much inspiration, its history, its traditional use, and the exploration of its old and new techniques can spark all sorts of directions and objects. Coming from a background as a sculptor and a family with high interest in psychology, I find these two worlds often inspiring and winding their way into my designs and the experiences around them.

Can you introduce us to the Bue Brushes created for the OROS “On The Table” selection ?

The Bue (Arc) Brush series is part sculpture and part utilitarian, made to be enjoyed in and out of use; dancing the line of art and design for a slower, more connective way of living. Sculptural flowing, fluid forms of raw oak bend and fold through the technique of traditional steam bending, connecting us to a time old handcraft. Where once heated, the wood is malleable and supple ready to be formed by hand and take on shape. The Bue Brush series is a collection of table or crumb brushes. Sculptural flowing, fluid forms of raw oak, bend and fold through the technique of traditional steam bending, connecting us to a time old handcraft. Where once heated, the wood is malleable and supple ready to be formed by hand and take on shape. The Bue Brushes are made from well managed forests that responsibly take care of forest harvesting and replenishment. They are made entirely from biodegradable materials of oak, coconut fibers, linen thread and beeswax.