Busy blurring the line between art and design since 2016, Agnes Studio is a collaboration between designers Gustavo Quintana and Estefania de Ros. Based in Guatemala, the duo sets their practice in hypothetical futures, alternate realities, and other worlds. Working closely with other makers to explore, honor, and test the boundaries of craft methods plays an important role in the search to bring new meaning to people’s lives. Agnes’s current four collections – Lana, Alter, Codex, and Apolonio – share the fruits of their labor.
Lana Chair and Ottoman
The Lana Series is inspired by clouds, mist, and the mountain ranges of Momostenango in the afternoon. Lana, which means “wool” in Spanish, puts the material to work in a new way by designing a chair, ottoman, bench, and daybed that feature it as the main element. The special virgin wool used in the collection is from Momostenango, a remote Guatemalan village known for its wool work.
Lana Chair
Lana Chair
Lana Chair
Lana Daybed
Lana Daybed
Lana Daybed
Lana Daybed
Lana Daybed
Loose Thread Tapestry
The Loose Threads curtains are part of the Apolonio series of textiles influenced by Estefania’s childhood memories. “My mother and aunt worked with traditional local weavers to make these objects used as tapestries or curtains… I enjoyed playing with it, by opening the threads apart to see more clearly the outside of my living room, passing my fingers up and down between the threads, trying to entangle them together, and even placing my head through the threshold… I would look at how the light would pass through, creating a pattern that was reflected in the carpet; and with the sun I could see small particles floating in the air.”
Altar Console 54″
An exploration of the evolution and materials used in Pre-Columbian Meso-American ceremonial objects, the Altar series takes shape. From corn millstones to sacrificial altars, it brings about the connection found in both ceremonial and daily rituals.
Codex Side Table
Codex, or códice, means both a chunk of wood and handwritten manuscripts in Latin. Mayan and Mexican códices were written in wood bark, using a numerical system of dots, dashes, and a special symbol for zero. In the Codex series, the studio translates the importance of communication and its natural evolution. Here, geometric, repeated patterns and the artisanal technique of “conchitas” are hand-chiseled.
Codex Credenza
To learn more about Agnes Studio, visit agnesstudio.co.
