Ensculpted worlds

Born in Spain, Nacho Carbonell is a revolutionary Eindhoven-based artist who seamlessly blends design and sculpture. Starting his artistic journey with a groundbreaking 2009 Evolution collection and subsequent recognition as a Designer of the Future at Design Miami/Basel in 2010, Carbonell’s work is marked by a tactile approach, using natural materials to create art that breaks the borders of imagination. His signature Cocoon lamps, exhibited at Carpenters Workshop Gallery, encapsulate the surreal magic realism that defines his globally acclaimed creations, showcased in different museums and private collections worldwide.

hube: The Evolution project of 2009 was a turning point in your career. How has your creative process evolved since then, and what continues to inspire your distinctive tactile approach to sculpture? In what way your more recent pieces such as Monumental and Light mesh are different?

Nacho Carbonell: I believe that nothing has remained unchanged. In another way, it feels like everything has changed. I feel a shift in the creative process, some kind of evolution. The way I create things definitely influences the way the end product looks. After all, there should be an understanding of the process, a slow digestion that occurs over a considerable period. While creating the objects, I find myself able to edit and re-edit my ideas.

During the time of working on Evolution, I was exploring the concept of pollution and its connection to what constitutes furniture for me, as opposed to what defines furniture for today’s society and the future. It was a reflection of our evolution and primitive nature simultaneously. I wanted to discuss the overload of information we had and still have.

This idea began shaping the concept of the chair. It has always been a crucial element, inviting the audience and the public to belong to the object. I don’t want the object to be something detached; I want you to engage and have an experience with it. This philosophy has always been deeply embedded in my work.

Hence, the chair and the cuckoo represent the notion of a thought being built in a specific moment – a space where thinking occurs, and you find yourself somewhere you can’t fully comprehend. This idea forms a metaphorical womb, reflecting how our ideas are created.

h: How does each of your sculptures reflect a unique facet of your personality, and how do you infuse your creations with a sense of identity?

NC: In the creation of each sculpture, I try to give it a soul. I perceive them as vessels containing not only my artistic expression but also encapsulating my experiences, both joyful and challenging. They become a reflection, a dynamic mirror capturing the core of my surroundings and the evolving state of my physical and mental self.

The studio, to me, is not just a space; it is an extension of my identity. Showcasing the various stages of evolution in my work is crucial. The studio becomes a manifestation of me, and I become an embodiment of the studio – an inseparable connection.

This symbiosis reveals itself, offering a glimpse into the current moment. The sculptures, like my children being born or influenced by my travels and global events, undergo a transformative process. They mutate, change, and adapt.

Each sculpture becomes a materialisation of my identity, reflecting the intricacies of my personality and the ongoing dialogue between my artistic journey and the world around me.

h: The importance of forming a relationship with your work is something you underline. How do you envision people interacting with your sculptures on a sensory and emotional level?

NC: I don’t want to become a dictator with this.

I feel like everyone has different relationships with different objects, just as we have different relationships with different people, you know? In that sense, I can put a lot of thoughts into the object, but once it interacts with someone else, they form an independent relationship. It can feel very distinct from what I feel and how it connects to me.

Everything is somehow connected to memory, and memory is essentially linked to our subconscious and childhood experiences, often shaping our intentions. However, the final feeling, the ultimate engagement, is between you and the object.

In the beginning, I tried to control it more, but then I understood that it was not possible. I can only present it to the audience and let them experience it for themselves.

It changed because of more experience and observing people interacting with it. I’ve realised that where I see something, others might see something else. I understand that I need to give that freedom to it. A level of abstraction needs to appear for people to be more open to engaging with the work. You should feel that connection, similar to interacting with pets, other humans, or living organisms that change and mutate, making each relationship unique. The objects are never the same, and I want to embrace this dynamic interaction.

h: Your designs utilise locally sourced materials from Eindhoven. How does the availability of materials in a specific location influence and shape your artistic choices? 

NC: Somehow, the materials are just a part of it because it’s not only the materials but also the machinery or skills that you have. It’s a whole context that makes you find things and have certain tools that make you create things in a specific way.

For example, during this time when we had fewer resources, we were looking at the material as a way of how we can transform it. It’s about how we can transform it to fit more with the ideas we want to represent. I work with very basic tools that allow me to avoid becoming highly technical and maintain a more primitive approach. This dialogue between the materials around me and the simple techniques enables me to bring them back to these ideas.

h: Your sculptures often evoke a sense of blurring the lines between the fantastical and the natural. How does this literary and artistic movement influence your creative vision?

NC: That line was already blurred a long time ago when I moved to Eindhoven. I entered the Design Academy, coming with a very set mind on what design was – in Valencia, I initially got my degree in industrial design. 

And then I came here and found these people doing “weird” things and calling it design. At the beginning, I was really frustrated about it, thinking, “No, this is not what I have been taught.”

Then I understood that what I had been taught before might not be the truth. Maybe there are no lines, maybe there are no borders at all. I said to myself, “Maybe design doesn’t need to be focused on the industry. Maybe design can be anything that you create – anything that has a purpose to exist.”

So, I started getting rid of many preconceptions, and at the moment of graduating, I felt like letting creativity go naturally is the best way to do things. 

When I allowed myself to let go, it was a little scary but at the same time, it was the moment when I finally felt like what I was doing made sense. 

h: Your work involves experimental techniques. Can you share a particular instance where experimentation led to an unexpected and exciting result in one of your creations? What sculpture was the most interesting to work on?

NC: I always feel like I am making a lot of mistakes during the creative process. But these mistakes are actually part of experimentation. That’s the beauty – to make all those mistakes. Maybe what you once considered a mistake was actually a success.

When I started with Evolution, I wanted to make a lamp. I was obsessed with this idea. I created all these paper bowl pastes to give it a glowing effect, but something just didn’t feel right. Then I bought my first welding machine and created a chair frame. I put the mesh around it. I remember getting inside this cocoon and pressing the whole paper paste. 

Something told me it was wrong to smooth out the texture because the texture was so powerful and important as a representation of tactility. I said to myself, “This needs to have this texture,” and it unexpectedly gave me goosebumps. So experimentation is the foundation of everything we create. That’s why it’s so important to be involved in the process.

As I was saying at the beginning, with the process, you need to make conscious decisions every second. In the process of making the object, it is mistake after mistake. 

I like the idea of doing by feeling and not following rules. It’s fun. In the beginning, jumping into the unknown is not always easy, but that’s why I always encourage people to do it and follow their gut because even though it’s doubtful and new to us, it doesn’t mean it’s not entitled to exist.

h: Certain pieces of yours have been displayed in various museum settings worldwide. How do you approach adapting your sculptures to different spaces, and what role do exhibition environments play in shaping the viewer’s experience?

NC: I think it’s important to embrace the context, with the space. It’s crucial to create an experience. The conversation that the piece has with the space is essential, though it’s not always possible to achieve a 100% connection. When I create an exhibition, I try to go there ahead of time and sometimes create site-specific elements that can enhance the overall experience.

For example, we had an exhibition last year in Los Angeles for the Carpenters Workshop Gallery. I spent 3 to 4 days creating a wall that served as a background, a room divider, and a spatial volume. It added a soul to the entire exhibition, providing a new core that made everything more understandable and engaging for the audience. This approach helps in creating a full and immersive experience for the gallery visitors.