Bubbly by Rosie Li.
Laurel Floor Lamp by Rosie Li.
DESIGNER OF THE DAY

Designer of the Day: Rosie Li

The Brooklyn lighting maven shares how science and mathematics underscore her ethereal, nature-inspired fixtures—and how we should slow down from today’s need-it-now culture.

The Brooklyn lighting maven shares how science and mathematics underscore her ethereal, nature-inspired fixtures—and how we should slow down from today’s need-it-now culture.

Here, we ask designers to take a selfie and give us an inside look at their life.

Age: 30

Occupation: Lighting designer.

Instagram: @rosielistudio.

Hometown: Palo Alto, CA.

Studio location: Brooklyn, NY.

Describe what you make: Sculptural lighting inspired by nature, with an undercurrent of science and mathematics.

Blossom by Rosie Li. Photography by Olga Mironova for Amy Lau.

The most important thing you’ve designed to date: Honestly, the Blossom building system. It’s a design formula and method that allows me to engineer large organic forms.

Describe the problem your work solves: The spaces we work and live in have an enormous impact on our lives; what an interior looks like or how a room is laid out informs how we feel and act. It’s important to live with objects that inspire creativity, and natural forms are universally inspiring. When I work with an architect or interior designer, my role is to create a light that complements their project and works as an esthetic stimulus for its occupants.

Describe the project you are working on now: I’ve been interested in aquatic life recently, and I’m exploring this idea through meander patterns made by bending and hammering brass wire.

A new or forthcoming project we should know about: I’m currently working on new sculptural Blossom and Bubbly editions, launching this May at NYCxDESIGN.

Inez by Rosie Li.
Bubbly by Rosie Li.

What you absolutely must have in your studio: Books about art/artists, snacks, and a good work ethic!

What you do when you’re not working: You’ll find me in the kitchen cooking. Eating clean and well is the best way to fuel creativity. I also try to go out once a month to see gallery shows, or visit other artists’ studios to break out of my bubble.

Sources of creative envy: Spencer Finch, Olafur Eliasson, Gae Aulenti, Anni & Josef Albers, Ken Price, Sol LeWitt, Julie Mehretu.

The distraction you want to eliminate: The whole need-it-now attitude that’s been reinforced by online retail (cough Amazon Prime cough). My studio builds fixtures carefully by hand, and trying to rush the process is at best distracting, at worst unproductive.

Rosie Li.
Laurel Floor Lamp by Rosie Li.

Concrete or marble? Marble.

High-rise or townhouse? Townhouse.

Remember or forget? Remember everything.

Aliens or ghosts? Aliens exist.

Dark or light? LIGHT!

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