Gerard McGuickin talked with Candela Cort to find out more about her relationship with LZF and her work in general.
Candela Cort
You designed the wonderfully abstract Candela lamp for LZF. What was the inspiration behind this?
As almost always in my work, my inspiration is based on the materials I am dealing with, their elasticity, their weight or lightness, their flexibility and the fact that they lend themselves to being worked with my hands without the need for many tools.
How did your career as a milliner influence the way in which you approached the design of Candela? What attracted you to working with LZF? Can you describe your collaboration?
The moment I got to know the LZF lamps, I felt connected to my world of headdresses and hats. I immediately imagined my creations as lamps. My collaboration with the LZF team has been effortless and fluid because I feel we speak the same language.
Candela wall lamp by Candela Cort
Your work is very much an expression of artistic freedom. As an artist, what does freedom mean to you?
From the beginning of my career, I refused to enter into formal academic canons. My intuition and my hands have always guided my freedom. I listen to my hands, and they speak for me.
Candela wall lamp by Candela Cort
Your hats, headdresses, and jewellery pieces appear to draw inspiration from nature. What inspires you most about the natural world?
What inspires me most are organic materials and the shapes I can make with them.
Candela wall lamp by Candela Cort
As an artist and designer, what are you still curious about?
Everything! I am curious by nature, and I like to experiment with all kinds of materials that I haven’t worked with before.
