Lauren Williams Art x Thomas Hayes Studio Collaboration

Lauren Williams, photo by Adrian Faubel // Thomas Hayes, c/o Thomas Hayes Studio

The much anticipated Sculptural Fibres Collaboration with artist Lauren Williams and Los Angeles based furniture designer, Thomas Hayes has been a year in the making and is finally available to collectors.

Thomas Hayes Studio is well known for striking modern furniture designs that are unique in its fidelity to the best elements of mid-century design. Pieces are conceived in the distinctive vision of Thomas Hayes and are the expert, elegant synthesis of the Californian Craftsman revolution and Brazilian design from that period.

Lauren Williams is known for her Canvas With Movement® textile artworks in which she suspends hundreds of individual wool strands from a walnut plank to create a canvas, but with movement. Multiple layers of dyes and paints are used to execute designs on the hanging fibers and have been included in homes, hotels, restaurants, boutiques and various public spaces across the world.

The idea of creating a sculptural fiber art piece became a reality when Lauren and Thomas met in the Summer of 2020. Conversations and sketches back and forth evolved the concept in to an architectural vision by suspending an alternative to Lauren’s well-known dyed strands from a hollow, metal sculpture. A thinner, more delicate blend of tencel, wool and bamboo fibres has become the next iteration of Lauren’s textile artwork in this collection. Working with space and various elements to create a coherent and functional structure for these new fibers, Thomas designed a hollowed brass form with a distinctive wooden element, a nod to his furniture designs, in which the dyed strands are displayed.

Those familiar with Lauren’s style know that her textile artwork encourages a response of touch and the expectation of movement. Seeing these beautifully dyed strands bundled together, instead of displayed in her usual linear “canvas” method presents a sense of fluidity, as the fibers appear to be “pouring out” of Thomas’s brass sculptures in a playful, yet sophisticated display of elevated materials and artistry. A true collaboration between artists loyal to their own visions has resulted in an already coveted, limited edition collection that is now available to the public, exclusively online at LaurenWilliamsART.com.

Thomas, you have an incredible furniture design studio with hand crafted pieces sought after by some of the most influential interior designers and collectors around the world. How did you get started?

T: Back in 2000 I dealt in mid century vintage furniture and then in 2010 I started doing my own line. I developed an early sensitivity and love for beautiful woods and highly figural, naturally occurring grains. This led me to start exploring and then restoring vintage Brazilian design, which existed in a parallel universe but shared origins with the Modernist movement occurring simultaneously in the US. It is also the sexy, curvaceous Mid-Century Italian influence that pervades my most beloved vintage examples of American and Brazilian design, and these have largely influenced my own aesthetic, too.

Daybed designed by Thomas, which triggered the idea of adding dyed tassels by Lauren, to the bolsters.

Various pieces designed and produced by Thomas Hayes Studio

Seating designed and produced by Thomas Hayes Studio

lauren, what influences you in your artwork?

L: I’m constantly inspired by raw and organic elements throughout nature. The textures of wood and stone; the color combinations found in the garden or on the beach; the way light and shadows play on rough and smooth surfaces; witnessing the color changes as materials become saturated; I am always finding sources of inspiration among these elements.

Textile Art: Lauren Williams, Photo: James Williams

How did the Lauren Williams Art x Thomas Hayes Studio Sculptural Fibres collaboration unfold?

T: Both Lauren and I love each others work and we became friends as mutual admirers. One day James, her husband, asked me about making some sculptural pieces out of brass, which I was happy to do. The idea that it was art or a collaboration didn’t cross my mind, I was just excited to work with Lauren.

Textile Art: Lauren Williams, Design: Samantha Gallacher/ IG Workshop, Photo: Andy Gallacher

L: Yeah, we both respect each other’s creativity so much. I spent time exploring glass and resin forms to execute an idea I had for suspending my fibres in a sculptural form, but it wasn’t until Thomas had an idea for suspending my dyed strands from his newest daybed design that triggered the conversation of going bigger and working together on creating a sculpture for my fibres.

What drew you to each other’s work?

T: The texture, the color, the story, and watching her create these pieces made me an admirer. I loved seeing everything she posted on social media

L: The combination of materials that he seems to effortlessly bring together was exciting to me. His work includes metals and wood, paired with leather and fabrics, all executed in an elevated and skilled design.

When designing the Sculptural artwork what was your inspiration? Walk us through your process from inspiration and conceptualization to creation.

L: I have worked with fibers and dyes for over 7 years now and the scale of my artwork is always very large. I felt challenged to create more small scale artworks that would allow for an intimate and elegant experience for the collector. Working with delicate fibers and suspending the textiles from a sculptural element brought together many concepts that have been circling in my mind for the past couple years.

T: I made some basic drawings of some curved pipes that had an opening for the fibers, then ran those shapes past Lauren and James. They were excited about them but I wanted to devise a way to cap off the tubes in a very finished way with natural materials, so we came up with the solid wood round insert. We did some of them with burned and brushed oak and natural oiled walnut. Many photos and phone calls back and forth, and ultimately Lauren took over from there.

How do your styles fit together for the Sculptural Fibre pieces?

T: Lauren’s part is obvious but I think I added how I use a lot of fabricated brass in my pieces and I created something for the fibers to spill forth from.

L: We both have an appreciation for high quality materials and high expectations of ourselves, which results in a very high standard for our craft. Fortunately, these traits helped create a collaborative collection that we are very proud of.

What is your favorite detail in these pieces?

T: The solid wood inserts are my favorite detail. Working with the raw metal we had to make a decision if we were going to try to remove all the scratches and handwork that went into fabricating them or to leave it with some evidence of fabrication. We sanded and polished the pieces down to a point where we liked the remaining texture and then applied the patina and a finish, making each piece unique from the other. I think that is a special detail, too.

L: I can’t list only one! I love seeing the fibres bundled together in these pieces. It really offers a different look from my standard textile art, in which the strands are displayed in a single layer, six feet wide, in most cases. The fawn colored strands are different from my usual white wool strands, and so the color palette in these works are very earthy and warm. I’m also really into checkered patterns and seeing the dyed bundles pouring out of the larger sculptures in three levels allows the layers of dye to create a sort of checkered pattern which makes me so excited. Ultimately, I wanted to challenge my textile artwork to be smaller and more delicate by using a thinner fibre. This collection really isn’t much smaller than my usual works, but there is a different scale with these sculptures that allow collectors to display in spaces where my large pieces could not hang.

What was most difficult during this collaboration process? What was most gratifying?

T: Nothing about working with Lauren was difficult. She is a great collaborator and artist. It was most gratifying to see Lauren put her work into it this collaboration. It really made the pieces come alive. They were just metal pieces until she got her hands on them.

L: Honestly, this was such an easy collaboration because we each were able to do what we are good at. I’m not sure if I’ll ever have the opportunity to work with another artist where both mediums come together so effortlessly. The hardest part of this collaboration will be letting each sculpture go! If I had enough wall space in my own home, I would be tempted to keep them all!