When Sara Gernsbacher and Patrick Walsh started Crying Clover in 2019, their intention wasn’t to reinvent the candle; the wonky wax figures were merely a creative experiment alongside the duo’s full-time art practices. What started as lighthearted gifts for friends became a full-blown side project that landed on the shelves of design shops. The creations possess an unapologetically imperfect quality: irregular edges, subtle swelling, and loose patchwork patterns.

“Redesigning candles is kind of impossible, but we found a little space where there was something that hadn’t been explored,” says Walsh. The team uses reclaimed wax from thrift stores and candle factories. Gernsbacher and Walsh have even announced that if Instagram followers ship the designers some wax, it will get the Crying Clover treatment, then be returned to the sender. The element of reusability is largely what got Walsh into wax. He explains, “It has this continuation of life that a lot of materials don’t have.”

Read the full Q&A with Crying Clover below.

Hometown: Justus, PA.

Describe what you make in 140 characters... Art.

What’s the last thing you designed? Sock Rope.

Do you have a daily creative ritual? I try to go outside as soon as I can after waking up to check on my plants.

How do you procrastinate? How do I stop procrastinating?

What everyday object would you like to redesign? Why? The door, home doors should be more like car door.

Who are your heroes (in design, in life, in both)? Isamu Noguchi, Bruce Nauman, Laurie Anderson.

What skill would you most like to learn? I’d like to build a house or renovate one.

What is your most treasured possession? My VW Scirocco.

What’s your earliest memory of an encounter with design? My parents took me to a Frank Lloyd Wright show at MoMA when I was a kid—they said I ran out screaming.

What contemporary design trend do you despise? Car windows in new cars create this air pressure that makes it hard to enjoy driving with the windows down—it feels like your brain is gonna pop.

Finish this statement: All design should... Give you goosebumps.

What’s in your dream house? Maximum energy efficiency and some rooms with dirt floors would be cool.

How can the design world be more inclusive? Design should be taught to children.

What do you wish non-designers understood about the design industry? I am more in the art world than design, so I am excited to learn more about this world.

You can learn more about Crying Clover on Instagram.

View the 2023 Dwell 24!

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Top Image: Courtesy Crying Clover

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The Dwell 24: Crying Clover