Dark, rippled forms trip across the floor, resembling glitchy shadows in AI-generated art, but there’s something more organic about these dreamlike objects. They are the enigmatic creations of Martinique-based designers Elodie Dérond and Tania Doumbe Fines, who run the studio Ibiyanε. “We see our objects as three-dimensional poems,” Doumbe Fines says. “These objects hold stories, imaginaries, philosophies.” More tangibly, they’re chairs, tables, and other pieces of furniture made of blocks of laminated timber carved into abstract shapes. The pair sculpt the wood themselves, letting intuition and the material guide them. “While we’re working on the wood, it reveals other details, other movements,” Dérond says.

Their inspiration comes from many places—African headrests, Renault cars, a monkey’s nose—but their process always seems to result in reminders of the power of human touch and physical experimentation to surprise as much as, if not more than, a machine ever could.

Read the full Q&A with Elodie Dérond and Tania Doumbe Fines below.

Hometown: Le Robert, Martinique.

Describe what you make in 140 characters... ibiyanε designs and crafts objects for everyday use, understanding seemingly ordinary objects as three-dimensional poems.

What’s the last thing you designed? elombe 017, a bench.

Do you have a daily creative ritual? No.

How do you procrastinate? Daydreaming, YouTube, social media.

What everyday object would you like to redesign? Why? Plant pots; more affordable aesthetic options.

Who are your heroes (in design, in life, in both)? Parents.

What skill would you most like to learn? Elodie: Drawing. Tania: boating.

What is your most treasured possession? Elodie: My pets. Tania: Mind and body.

What’s your earliest memory of an encounter with design? Elodie: My dad hand-crafting a small desk for me. Tania: Stools in my childhood home.

What contemporary design trend do you despise? Lack of individuality in commercial productions.

Finish this statement: All design should... relieve.

What’s in your dream house? Empty space, sunlight, invisible storage.

How can the design world be more inclusive? Broadening the understanding of design and its manifestations in various contexts, territories, etc.; daily life problem solving as a democratized and diversified design practice.

What do you wish non-designers understood about the design industry? Nothing in particular.

You can learn more about ibiyanε on Instagram.

View the 2023 Dwell 24!

—

Top Image: Courtesy ibiyanε

Head back to the September/October 2023 issue homepage