Ana Kraš Unveils Silk Covered Tables at Emma Scully Gallery

A naturally forming fiber that has been woven and knitted into especially absorbent garments since ancient times, silk has also been used in home furnishings including luxuriant drapery and upholstery, and wall paneling, but scarcely as the surface of a table or the planar shade of a particularly light-diffusant luminaire.

Cue Ana Kraš’ new Svila collection—named after the Serbian word for silk—a carefully configured range of functional and sculptural objects that harness the semi-translucent, refractive, and textural qualities of this delicate yet versatile material in new, unexpected ways. Debuted at New York’s Emma Scully Gallery, the limited-edition tables and wall-mounted lights present the fabric as what Kraš calls “works of art.”

The Belgrade-born polymath always imbues her work with tactility, stemming from an intuitive understanding that minimalist forms need to carry some type of visceral or visual complexity to be decipherable, relatable. It’s a balancing act the trained designer, photographer, and art director has mastered across medium and typology. The “line” is another common motif found throughout Kraš’ work, one she first deployed in large-scale, oil-slick drawings and, later, the wrapped recycled thread Bonbon light collection she developed for Danish brand Hay.

In the Svila coffee and side tables, it emerges as the variegated, multi-hued, silk threads that make up what are ostensibly, tone on tone color field surfaces. Reflecting the imprint of the skilled hands that formed them, the fiber changes in hue and texture with every minuscule strand. Protecting the material but also amplifying the visual effect are proportioned clear glass overlays that make these sculptural forms functional. In the rectilinear, layered surface sconces—stretched silk sheets suspended from concealed armatures—backlighting does the trick.

Material contrast is another visual and visceral strategy Kraš deftly deployed in the Svila collection. In the coffee and side tables, its blackened ash structures subtly ornamented with carved flourishes along their edges. These linear and floral patterns were introduced by Bosian craftspeople upholding UNESCO-protected traditions.

Ultimately, this latest undertaking is a reflection of Kraš recently becoming a mother, the time she dedicated to spending with her newborn, only speaking in Serbian, and equating silk’s cocoon-like formation to that experience. “In those early days, I felt suspended in a quiet, protective space,” she said.