It’s been a whirlwind year for Concealed Studio.
Concealed Studio - the working partnership of artists Mario Sabljak and Cheryl Cheng - has made its presence felt at Design Korea 2017 and Toronto Design Week, where they’ve showcased light fixtures that include stand-alone sculptural pieces and architectural wall panels.
Their work combines the talents of the two artists. Sabljak is a furniture designer who provides the expertise in wood- and metal-working, while Cheng creates intricate geometric patterns from vellum paper through complex folding (think origami taken to architectural levels).
Their partnership started on a bit of a whim. Both artists have their own individual practices, and Sabljak happened to be at a show of Cheng’s work in 2016 when he decided he liked what she does. He suggested meeting for a coffee and talking about possible collaborations.
“There was no goal, really,” he says. “We were hoping that we would put it out there, but we didn’t realize that in one year we’d be going all over the world.”
Their collaborations began as simply creating things they both liked. They’re now working primarily on commissioned pieces, with an eye on the hotel, restaurant and corporate market. Their work includes both wall-mounted installations and stand-alone pillars, with a series in reclaimed cedar and another in chrome. One cedar pillar and a wall-mounted piece will be shown at Luminescence III.
Sabljak is looking forward to seeing people’s reactions to their work – noting that, at Toronto Design Week, they found many people would simply sit and stare at the hypnotic effect of the designs.
Being part of Luminescence means they’ve been accepted into all of the shows they’ve applied for in the past year – which, he said, is something that pleases them since it’s rewarding to be recognized within their own industry.
“We just wanted to create something that we enjoyed,” he says. “The fact that other people like it is a super-wicked bonus.”
