LÆRKE RYOM

The tactile is a major part of the way Lærke Ryom interacts with the world and grounds her practice, whether she is making pieces such as a quilted chair or furniture and objects from offcuts of flooring timber. “I use my hands a lot, and it is also through my hands that I understand the world. Although my practice and aesthetic will evolve, I think I will continue to make sensuous objects,” says Ryom, a rising talent in the Danish design world, who graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Art Master’s program in furniture and object in 2022. Ryom is especially motivated by using familiar materials in a new context, upending their preconceived uses and getting people to perceive and value the material differently. Besides her own practice Ryom is one of four founders of Ukurant, an exhibition platform and creative community to assist emerging designers like themselves and highlight research and experimental techniques for using discarded materials, innovative composites or explore the limits of craft.

The Offcut Collection of wooden objects, presented in Ark Kollekt 01, explores the aesthetics of end grain from Douglas fir, a by-product from the flooring production of Danish company, Dinesen. Ryom works with the width and sizes determined by the production, developing rhythmic shapes referencing the patterns that appear when stacking and offsetting the wood and paying tribute to the natural ornamentation of the grain. “Both shape and ornament thereby originate from the material itself, offering a new aesthetic perspective and experience of the familiar material.”

Portrait by Peter William Vinther