The buoyancy that underscores each of designer Lindsey Adelman’s creations has stood in a league of its own since she founded her eponymous lighting studio in 2006. Her latest collection, Paradise, is built upon a similarly effortless ethos, which draws from the inherent luxury that comes with the act of wandering. Armed with a distinctive aesthetic language – bringing together heavy brass chains, slender polished pins, shades of pink and amber, and exquisitely textured glass – Paradise is a sumptuous depiction of spontaneity, a riot of irregular and unpredictable forms.
Lindsey Adelman’s inspirations
‘I designed [Paradise] before Covid hit, and even back then I was daydreaming a lot about the nomadic lifestyle, and thinking about what luxury means, because we serve the luxury industry,’ recounts Adelman. ‘It really is freedom and optionality – that is luxury. And so I was thinking about geographical wandering, but also internal [wandering]; almost like having a responsibility to let one’s mind wander so that we’re never getting habituated. I was thinking about getting into habits, but also habitat – all those things lock us into a certain way of thinking and experiencing the world.’ Adelman concluded that we should push ourselves to look at everything with fresh eyes. ‘I think it’s our duty to keep doing that and trying new perspectives.’
She says of the new collection, ‘I really wanted it to feel like wandering, almost like a Moroccan textile, really bohemian, so that it appears spontaneous and a lot less prescribed in terms of how it has to look in a room. I wanted it to feel opulent and indulgent, but also to look like it could change at any moment. It could change its mind.’
To create that effect, Adelman has mixed up Venetian-inspired orbs of intricately textured glass with strings of brass curb chain and clusters of metal fringing. Additional glass vessels are attached using long, needle-like pins. Elegantly suspended from the ceiling with oversized, jewellery-esque rings, there is more to her contemporary twist on a chandelier than meets the eye.
Paradise: a collection of sculptural lights
‘I was really inspired by a bracelet I have,’ says Adelman, adding that she wanted to find a way to reinvent the elements of a chandelier, while trying to elevate it into something that sets a mood. ‘We worked with textile artist Taryn Urushido, who crocheted the electrical wire onto the heavy chain – that was a real breakthrough. I like that the electricity is this drapey, opulent element, rather than something to conceal. I also wanted to avoid any straight vertical lines, which is a challenge when you design lighting.’
Paradise evolved out of Paradise City, an immersive sculptural work that Adelman presented at Design Miami Art Basel in 2019. ‘I think its fun to keep going with a theme that I love,’ she says. ‘If you look at all the collections that I’ve designed together, they are definitely all in conversation with each other. A lot of our clients have multiple pieces and it’s nice that they’re not the same, but they all go together.’
Available in chandelier, pendant and sconce form, Paradise willingly lends itself to customisation, like all of Adelman’s collections. ‘All the added details announce the optionality of the piece. You can see that everything looks like it could be an animation. All the baubles could move around. Nothing is too set in its place,’ she says. ‘I’m very drawn to things that look like that and the extent of the custom work that we do here also really lends itself to allow our clients to play with it for their needs. That’s a lot of what drives my design process.’ §
