Brooklyn-based furniture designer Arielle Assouline-Lichten has been busy. The founder of Slash Objects recently appeared as a contestant on Ellen’s Next Great Designer and launched her sleek Adri Chair, composed of two marble slabs joined with brass hardware and a recycled rubber seat. “I was inspired by collage artist Adriana Jiménez Blanchet and her process of creating works organized into grids, but also with organic gestures and movement,” says Assouline-Lichten. “I interpreted these gestures as the natural veining of marble and the sling chair as an extension of that movement.” Here, she shares her design insights.
Origin story: I decided to be my own client and design all the things I was imagining. I didn’t know I would turn that initial collection into a company. I love working at this scale—where you can create tangible products in a relatively quick timeline and control more of the process from start to finish.
On circular design: Beauty has the power to persuade, which is why my goal is to create beautiful products that integrate recycled materials. We are still in the nascent stages of circular design and how to make our society reckon with the materials we use. I’d like to be a part of the trajectory.
Ones to watch: I’m swooning over my friend Martina Guandalini’s (@martinaguandalinidesign) resin-and-faux marble pieces, as well as Maryam Turkey’s (@maryamturkey) mixed-media assemblages.
