I didn't have time to make it to Shoreditch when visiting London earlier this year, but if I had, House of Toogood would've been my first stop. The space, founded by sisters Faye and Erica Toogood, operates as a showroom and gallery showcasing the designers' own furniture and clothing collections, as well as exclusive exhibitions and collaborations. A huge fan of Faye Toodgood's furniture designs, I was so excited to see some of her iconic pieces for the first time at The Hub General Store in Melbourne this year. Seeing more of the magic in her own London showroom would be amazing. In June, House of Toogood held a pop-up exhibition by award-winning artist Malgorzata Bany. Her sculptural pieces fit perfectly inside the minimal space and I was in awe seeing the images on Instagram around that time. You can still check them out on the @t_o_o_g_o_o_d and @malgorzatabany feeds. I've saved quite a few!
Today I stumbled across another exhibition at House of Toogood held late last year. A solo show Nearness by by artist Sarah Kay Rodden, I just had to share these beautiful images with you. A designer at Ile Crawford, Sarah was also head of concept design at Faye Toogood between 2008 and 2012. Here is some insight into her inspiring work, which I'm so happy to have discovered.
Sarah Kaye Rodden is a slow and obsessive looker. She is an arranger and re-arranger of forms, where repetition and subtle changes in tone and texture generate meaning. Forms become subjects and groups of forms become scenes, even as they continue to speak to one another in a language that belongs only to them. Kaye Rodden's meditative practice is an exercise in coolness and patience, waiting for pictorial resolution while relishing the state of 'nearness' and the way nearness looks and feels. The sleek transcendence of Jean Arp is as important to her as the life-work of Giorgio Morandi, where a ritualistic daily search is as beautiful, and fruitful, as an answer.
Photography by French+Tye