As the climate crisis becomes harder to ignore, so levels of eco-anxiety continue to spiral, particularly among young people. The impact is potentially profound, with damaging implications for collective mental health.

Visually, there is a bleak beauty to this story, referencing hostile landscapes, fens, bogs and ditches and ancient temperate forests filled with fungi, lichen, moss, twisted tree roots and wood.

Traditional practices and craftsmanship are noted, in particular the use of local materials and sustainable methods that speak to a deep connection between the artisan and the land.

SOUL was first published in MIX Magazine issue 72, and the following material, pattern and finish directions are explored in more detail in our 2025 CMF Directions.

 

Pascal Baudar | Vinegar making vessel | Local wild clay, yucca fibres, cloth dyed with pinecone ink 

 

Foraged Clay 

The unprocessed and rugged complexion of foraged clay speaks to a direct connection between the artisan and the land. Pascal Baudar explores his personal relationship with the immediate landscape in the primitive dishware collection made from local wild clay.

 

Katie Rose Johnston | M A N I F E S T O | Arctic Wild Incense Holder, 2023 | Terracotta paper clay, glaze made with oyster shells collected in Norway 

Influenced by archaeology and the Shetland landscape, Katie Rose Johnston crafts ceramics using foraged clay and natural glazes.

 

Mah-e-Nau Rafiq | @_mahenau | Immigrant Identity | Ceramic body sculptures | Found and commercial clays

Mah-e-Nau Rafiq explores her personal experience of displacement as a result of migration in the project Immigrant Identity. Translating the collisions between growing up in Pakistan and daily life in the UK, Rafiq uses earth from both lands to create a series of rugged and fragmented sculptures of her body.

 

Blackened & Stained

 

Fractall | Henge | Waxed aluminium | Belgian Design Pavillion at MDW 2023 | Isola Design

The bleak beauty of this story is referenced in blackened and stained finishes. Inspired by prehistoric megalithic monuments, Fractall’s Henge aluminium benches are waxed to create weathered finishes alluding to the transience of matter.

 

Lingjiao Li | @ll___j | Tales | Silk, cotton, sage weed, black soybean, turmeric, wormwood and indigo natural dyes

In hand-crafted textiles and fashion by Lingjiao Li, botanical dyes are used to create blackened stains.

 

Glyphs

 

Joâo Marcos Moreira | JMM Design Studio collectible design & art | JMM_CT1 ST | Silver travertine stone, cast brass with natural finishing

Ancient and primitive symbols and glyphs are a natural inspiration for pattern in this story. João Marcos Moreira’s silver travertine table incorporates cast bronze motifs inspired by cave paintings and lost Inca symbols.

 

Ludovica+Roberto Palomba for Wall&dec. | Geroglifici | Patterned vinyl wallpaper | Photo Marina Denisova

Graphic black and white signs and symbols punctuate wallcoverings in Geroglifici, designed by Ludovica+Roberto Palomba for Wall&decò.

 

Emilie Lisi | Rif. Nella Bocca Del Lupo | White clay covered with embroidered fabric, internal glossy finish

Primitive ceramics assume ancestral forms in the work of Emilie Lisi. An almost archaeological aesthetic emerges as the white clay surface is concealed in salvaged fabrics embroidered with black graphic symbols.

 

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