The freethinking Australian founded his tight-knit lighting studio on the principle of fiat lux, or “let there be light”—and in his tenth year of operation, he’s mining inspiration both earthly and divine to let the light in. In the below interview, he chats about his voracious reading habit, original design, and his favorite part about living and working in Melbourne.

You started collecting rocks and crystals during walks as a kid. What drew you to them, and what do they represent to you?

Where would we be if there was no ground? Nothing is as important as our own earth and the rocks beneath our feet. When I was six, I found a little handbook called “Rocks and Minerals” on a junk shop excursion that inspired me to look at the world, starting with my feet. I have fond memories of collecting natural objects discovered on adventures as a child—shells, stones, leaves—that I dutifully decorated my bedroom with.

I’ve always turned to nature as a grounding source of inspiration. Subconsciously informing my visual language, the studio is an extension of that curiosity. Whether at home or in the studio, my desks, tables, windowsills, and floors are all covered in a textural spectrum of minerals. These are daily reminders that creative expression is influenced by what we’re surrounded with. These elemental crystalline structures contain innate stories of creation, color, complexity, and timelessness—all evidence of the physical world in which we’re intrinsically linked. We come from dust and return to dust. Lost in an ephemeral digital world, we sometimes forget that.

Your studio is founded on the principle of fiat lux, which translates to “let there be light”—a line from the third verse of Genesis. You also studied literature at university. How do literature and religion influence your practice today?

I’m a voracious reader. Books are portals to other worlds. I value compounded knowledge and the immense learning and guidance they offer. Reading is like downloading thoughts. Religion is simply a designed vehicle for transporting ideas across time. Who controls history? That’s the issue with our modern day, isn’t it? Everything is interdependent and related: Nature, chemistry, and engineering are the standards from which ergonomics, geopolitics, and culture grow. Reality is that which doesn’t go away when we stop thinking about it. We need a new vehicle to transport us.

My formal education veered from early studies in cinema, media, linguistics, and English literature before quickly discovering industrial design was my calling. Changing the world by design, moving beyond words, creating light, and influencing the perception of our homes and spaces, silent objects speak loud with presence telling their stories. Environment shapes behavior. Whether formal or informal, everything I’ve learned influences the studio today. I have piles of sketchbooks, journals, and pads, not to mention the digital soup of articles, images, and memes. One day I’d like to build a library and gift it.

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Lorena Vieyra’s interior design practice has introduced her to a dynamic array of makers in her home base of Mexico City. But the decorated founder of Vieyra Estudio sought to bring together the skilled artisans of her network—especially those embodying Mexico’s distinctive culture and heritage—to create something bigger. “There’s pride in Mexican culture and global audiences are increasingly interested in our art, food, and especially design,” Vieyra says. “We have a lot to express through our heritage and culture, which is very emotional.”

That inspired her to launch Omet, a new e-commerce platform presenting an expertly curated selection of collectible furniture and objects by makers across Mexico and Latin America. Named after Ōmeteōtl, the Aztec god of creation who has both male and female counterparts, Omet gathers a diverse cohort of 11 designers united by their generational techniques, local materials, and regional storytelling. The initial offering, which includes exclusive pieces by the likes of textile artist José María Balmaceda, ceramicist Lili Cortina, and artist-architect Pedro Reyes, launched on May 1. Vieyra plans to open a brick-and-mortar showroom in Austin this fall but is bringing a pop-up exhibition to NYCxDesign this month.

“We focused on pieces that tell a story and allow its owner to know exactly how it was made,” Veiyra says. “What I’m trying to get is that richness of why this was made in Mexico and not someplace else.” That answer lies in the edit of 30 pieces, which expresses the richness of Mexican materials and heritage. Reyes debuts a hand-chiseled volcanic stone chair inspired by metate tools used to make tortillas; Juan José Nemer and Mauricio Alvarez of Ad Hoc reveal hand-carved wooden stools that nod to the molinillo, a traditional whisk used to make hot chocolate. “Our pieces are unique, not only in terms of quality, but of their timelessness and soul,” she says. “I see Omet as the umbrella that can showcase all this talent.”

At the height of the pandemic, Nyakio Grieco strolled past an empty storefront in Larchmont Village almost every day while the L.A. local was launching Relevant: Your Skin Seen, her second beauty brand. (Her first, Nyakio Beauty, which was based on secrets shared by her Kenyan ancestors, was sold to Unilever in 2017.) Then came that summer’s social justice uprising, which motivated her and Patrick Herring—the founder of size-inclusive marketplace 11 Honoré—to launch Thirteen Lune, a beauty platform with 90 percent of brands owned by Black and brown entrepreneurs.

An instant success, Thirteen Lune soon evolved into shop-in-shops at hundreds of JCPenney stores—and pushed her to co-found the Beauty Vanguard podcast. But the brand was eyeing even further expansion, and the storefront Grieco passed by every day looked appealing. It needed a revamp, so she enlisted celebrity interior designer Brigette Romanek to translate her ethos into the brand’s first flagship. “[Grieco’s] vision, passion, and love for inclusive beauty fueled the design,” Romanek says. “We created a space that feels eclectic—somewhere that promotes community with treasures to discover in every corner.”

That’s no exaggeration. At a spacious 1,700 square feet, the flagship affords Thirteen Lune ample room to expand its roster without feeling crowded. That’s partially thanks to the beige entry’s relaxed, airy ambiance and inviting velvet sofa. From there, guests peruse offerings from indie brands like Ami Colé and Axiology to heavy hitters like Goop by Gwyneth Paltrow, a friend and early investor. You can even spruce up your brows at the in-store salon helmed by Damōne Roberts, also known as Hollywood’s Eyebrow King. “It’s a full-service community experience,” Grieco says of her plans to host events like shopping nights. Her ultimate goal, though, is to “make this a place where we all really just take care of each other.”

The Studio Museum in Harlem recently welcomed cultural leaders, art-world luminaries, and philanthropists to its annual spring luncheon. This year’s occasion honored Ming Smith, an artist whose current “Projects” exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art was organized by the Studio Museum’s director Thelma Golden. The luncheon also celebrated the institution’s education programs, including one that explores photography through the lens of Harlem’s rich history. The afternoon began with a cocktail hour at the Mandarin Oriental before Golden spoke and presented Smith with a gift.

When was it? April 28

Where was it? The Mandarin Oriental, New York

Who was there? Glenn Lowry, Turiya Adkins, Renee Cox, Daniel McKinney, Tschabalala Self, Mickalene Thomas, Nicola Vassell, and more.

When: Until June 18

Where: Carwan Gallery, Athens

What: The Italian designer joins forces with marble editor Palmalisa Zantedeschi on a limited-edition collection of sculptural marble benches, side tables, cocktail tables, low tables, consoles, and desks inspired by megalithic structures. Cut from rare marble with one-of-a-kind patterns from no-longer-active quarries, each exudes a mysterious aura that serves as a rich visual tapestry of original stone formations and the history of the Earth.

Some 16 years ago, Alison Page, an Aboriginal design expert and Wadi Wadi and Walbanga woman of the Yuin nation, began a conversation at a wedding with a man who turned out to be the design and innovation director of Breville, one of Australia’s oldest appliance brands. Page challenged him to incorporate Aboriginal heritage into the brand, and he accepted the challenge—eventually.

It took a few years for the timing to feel right, Page says, and even longer to get the process right. Now an adjunct associate professor in design at the University of Technology Sydney and founder of the National Aboriginal Design Agency, Page knew she wanted to use work by original members of the Pintupi Nine, a tribe living in their traditional ways in remote Western Australia. They only came into contact with other Australians in 1984, but their astonishing paintings were gaining attention in the art world and beyond.

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