German designer Pia Maria Raeder has combined thousands of beech rods to create spiny furniture that resembles sea anemones.Â
Raeder used the technique to produce tables and a tall oval mirror – all of which were displayed by Galerie BSL at the 2016 PAD London fair.
The designer arranged three side tables and two sculptural pieces – made from more than 16,000 beech rods in total – to form the Sea Anemones White installation at the fair.
Raeder, who left a career as a TV reporter to create furniture, handmade each piece. She spent more than 400 hours in total completing them.
"In my work with beech rods, I love the challenge of overcoming the contradictions in the material as I play with it," she said. "A wooden rod, that is rigid in itself, becomes soft and rounded once sanded."
Raeder arranges each rod at different levels, creating a sense of depth and an undulating surface. The designer also lacquers each piece, to add to the textural effect.
"Natural beech rods are straight, but combined at different heights, these rods take on a new form resembling a wave with shadowy reflections," she said.
In addition to the tables, Raeder unveiled a new mirror, which features a reflective panel tilted back and supported by hundreds of beech spines, arranged together to form a rippling exterior.
All the pieces were on display at the 2016 PAD London fair, which ran from 2 to 8 October in Berkely Square. At last year's fair, gallerists and collectors told Dezeen that London was fast becoming a global centre for the collectible design market – which has "one leg in design and one leg in art".