Inari Kiuru’s Let Us Be Lovers

Travelling by train between Manhattan and New Jersey in February 2009, designer Inari Kiuru was struck by the scenery.

“It was a cold overcast day, the sky was grey, the waters under heavy bridges murky, and the grass bleached winter dry,” Kiuru recalls.

Kiuru took a series of images of what she saw, which became the basis of her work Let us be lovers: New Jersey industrial landscapes.

“The containers and machines I saw from the train window, left alone in the flat fields; their weight and random arrangement combined with their surprisingly vivid colours appeared sculptural, awesome, almost installation-like to me.”

Kiuru’s sculpture series reimagines the abandoned containers and pieces of machinery with their imposing forms and worn surfaces.

“I designed these objects and their proportions consciously so that they’d invite the viewer to arrange, pile or join them in several ways,” Kiuru says.

Photo by Jeremy Dillon

The objects combine steel, welding and liquid enamel in a process that has traditionally been reserved for industrial use.

“Working with an unconventional material combination, the process of applying the surface treatment was almost completely an experimental journey, dotted with many accidents, new starts after cracked surfaces, and great surprises,” Kiuru says.

Photo by Jeremy Dillon

“I had some loose colour plans for each object in the series (black, pink, orange, grey) but the final solutions grew from testing colour, application methods and layering in the kiln through several firings. Every step was a learning curve, and the project as a whole inspired me to develop further work.”

Inari Kiuru is also featured in issue 44 of Indesign magazine, out 16 February.