Peter Bingham

SHY Design Studio explore objects and furniture through a narrative driven process.

Q&A

Artist Statement

Founder Peter Bingham, and long-term collaborator Sofia Olander, are concerned with the emotional attachments and relationships between users and objects.

What craft do you work with?

Peter initially trained as a fine furniture maker in wood, before expanding his interests and studying more broadly furniture and product design in multiple materials including scagliola.

Sofia trained first in leather and fur crafts, then later tailoring at Saville Row before realising a passion for historical and theatrical costume.

What inspires you to work with this craft?

Created by combining refined, centuries old traditional technique, followed by counterintuitive, destructive actions to open the subsurfaces, revealing the hidden patterns and texture below. Our technique allows us to juxtapose the uniform, polished outer surfaces with the open rock like surfaces, in reference to the materials it’s made from.

How do you start your creative process?

The studio’s processes balance honourable materials, historic handcrafts, quality craftsmanship and narrative rich design that they believe delivers sustainable and emotionally engaging collectible furniture.

How would you best describe your workspace and what tools could you not do without?

The chippings and dust from one piece are imbedded into each consecutive edition, eliminating waste, whilst also creating a narrative and connection between objects.