Hammer time: Yuki Ferdinandsen’s hail-marked designs at Gallery Fumi Porto Cervo

Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
Thank you for signing up to Wallpaper. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
In Japanese 'arare' (霰, あられ) means 'hail.' In Yuki Ferdinandsen’s work, 'arare' refers to a metalworking technique that produces a richly textured surface that appears to have been impacted by thousands of tiny hailstones. The Japanese-born, Danish-based designer hammers out each dent by hand onto a silver surface (roughly 20 blows are required to create a single one of the spherical markings and give them a polished finish) in a painstaking process she describes as a rhythmic 'hammer dance'.
Ferdinandsen applies the decorative technique to a wide range of functional objects, and a selection of her vessels – including vases, a pitcher and a champagne cooler – are currently on view in Gallery Fumi’s Porto Cervo 'Summer Group Show'.
Having worked exclusively with silver for many years, Ferdinandsen has developed a nuanced handling of the material. 'Silver’s gloss is hot and cold simultaneously – it is this gloss and disposition that is the charm of working with silver,' she notes. The processes she employs work to challenge the properties of silver. The tiny bumps create a delicate yet complex pattern of light and shadow over each object. Some of the pieces are immersed in an acid bath to transform the material’s luster into a semi-matte, off-white surface.
The regular, radial pattern of the indentations draws inspiration from nature – she cites the Fibonacci sequence, in particular, but some of the flatter pieces also suggest constellations and galaxy formations – while the sleek, minimalist forms point to the designer’s cultural roots. Born in Kyoto in 1958, Ferdinandsen moved to Denmark in the late 80s after finishing school and has been living there ever since – but the influence of her native land still reverberates throughout the work. 'Now, I see Japan through a Danish filter,' she explains. 'I want to sense these two vastly different cultures and allow them to rearrange naturally.'
Ferdinandsen applies the decorative technique to a wide range of functional objects – the pieces at Porto Cervo include vases, a pitcher and a champagne cooler
Having worked exclusively with silver for many years, Ferdinandsen has developed a nuanced handling of the material. Pictured: 'Catch'
The regular, radial pattern of the indentations draws inspiration from nature – she cites the Fibonacci sequence, in particular, but some of the flatter pieces also suggest constellations and galaxy formations. Pictured: 'Champagne Cooler'
The sleek, minimalist forms point to the designer’s cultural roots. Pictured: 'Sprouting'
'Now, I see Japan through a Danish filter,' the designer explains. 'I want to sense these two vastly different cultures and allow them to rearrange naturally'
INFORMATION
Gallery Fumi Porto Cervo’s ’Summer Group Show’ is on view until the end of September. For more information, visit the Gallery Fumi website
ADDRESS
Gallery Fumi Porto Cervo
Promenade du Port
Via Aga Khan, 1
07021 Arzachena
Sardinia
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
-
Birkenstock and Tekla offer clogs and pyjamas made to ‘still the mind’
Birkenstock 1774 and Danish lifestyle brand Tekla mine a natural affinity with a collection made for ‘contemplation and comfort’
By Jack Moss Published
-
Gabriel Tan launches Experimental Editions, a design brand embracing the beauty of imperfection
Experimental Editions is a new brand born from Gabriel Tan's Origin Made with the aim of elevating the artisanal process
By Giovanna Dunmall Published
-
Terra Carta Design Lab announces second edition
For the Terra Carta Design Lab’s second edition, students and recent alumni are invited to design high-impact, low-cost solutions to address the climate crisis
By Rosa Bertoli Published
-
New glass sculpture creates a verdant wonderland at Apple’s Cupertino HQ
‘Mirage’ at Apple Park is the work of Zeller & Moye and artist Katie Paterson, a shimmering array of glass columns that snakes through the grounds of the company’s monumental HQ
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Man Ray’s sculptures go on show in New York
‘Man Ray: Other Objects’ opens at Luxembourg + Co, New York, revealing their author’s ‘artistic revolution’
By Hannah Silver Published
-
The best London art exhibitions to see now
Your guide to the best London art exhibitions, as chosen by the Wallpaper* arts desk
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Erwin Wurm’s pop-coloured fantasy land at Yorkshire Sculpture Park
In Erwin Wurm’s first UK museum show, ‘Trap of the Truth’, the artist transforms Yorkshire Sculpture Park into a slightly warped wonderland (10 June 2023 – 28 April 2024)
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith Published
-
Sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro transforms Fendi’s Rome HQ into a theatre of myth and magic
Fendi’s Roman HQ sets the scene for ‘Il Grande Teatro delle Civiltà’ a major show by Italian sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro, who has also created a one-off edition of the house’s iconic Peekaboo bag. Read more in the July 2023 Issue of Wallpaper*, on newsstands 8 June
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith Published
-
Superflex on building an underwater city for fish: ‘there are different rules down there’
Danish art collective Superflex discuss their ambitious Super Reef, an underwater urbanisation project aiming to restore more than 55 square kilometres of stone reef in Danish seas
By Alice Godwin Published
-
Raffaele Salvoldi stacks hundreds of marble blocks for dazzling Milan installation
For a Milan Design Week 2023 installation, Italian artist Raffaele Salvoldi teams up with marble brand Salvatori to create architectural sculptures comprising hundreds of marble blocks
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith Published
-
John Pawson unveils first-ever sculpture in Tokyo exhibition
At The Mass, Tokyo, British architect John Pawson stages his first solo exhibition in Japan, revealing his first sculpture and a new photography series
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith Published