Jenny Nordberg

The Powder Vases by Jenny Nordberg is a part of the limited edition decorative accessory collection curated by Modern Design Review for Hem.

Throughout her practice, Nordberg has turned a critical eye on contemporary conditions of production, adopting an experimental and research-based approach. However, finding manufacturers who are willing to experiment is not an easy task. As a counter-strategy, she has developed her studio workshop such that it accommodates a variety of industrial techniques, including powder coating and metal casting. This framework has functioned as a stimulus, rather than a limitation, enabling the development of experiments that would not be possible in a large-scale manufacturing context.

Within the Powder Vessel concept Norberg has searched for a wild and irregular expression using a technique that most often is used to gain perfection, powder coating. She ordered laser cut metal parts form her local metal supplier which she then welded together into large vessels. By altering the powder coating setup in her studio Nordberg gained a brutal and vivid surface treatment.

Hem writes:
Hem will unveil the third object from its decorative accessories collection curated by Modern Design Review during Stockholm Design Week following successful launches with London-based SuperGroup and Dutch designer Bertjan Pot in 2019. This new series has been produced by Swedish designer Jenny Nordberg, a designer who is known for her research-led approach to making objects – something which has been key to the development of the Powder Vase for Hem. Produced as a signed, limited-edition of 15 pieces featuring three different shapes, the vases are made from sheet steel which Nordberg folds and welds by hand. Unique to the pieces is the unexpected, brutal and vivid surface treatment that Nordberg has developed through experimentation with powder-coating in her studio. Whilst powder-coating is most commonly used to achieve a uniform surface treatment, here Nordberg uses it to achieve an expressive decoration.

Hem’s decorative accessories collection commissioned by Modern Design Review intends to present objects that are the essence of their makers. For Jenny Nordberg this has meant a work that demonstrates her commitment to her industrially-inspired workshop production and is a continuation of her ideas-led, yet ultimately covetable, collection of works.

A special thanks to Laura Houseley at Modern Design Review.