Tom Dixon challenged himself to capture dreamy clouds in a hard material – aluminium

 

Generously proportioned, the new CLOUD collection bridges the gap between extraordinary decoration and functional vases and serve ware. Tom Dixon’s Cloud has a very natural outcome and is visibly handmade.

The organic forms of Tom Dixon’s new collection of vessels are inspired by the ephemeral and soft shapes of clouds.

Tom Dixon’s Cloud is a family of bulbous and sculptural pieces made of highly reflective polished aluminium. The collection includes a platter, bowl, short and tall vessel which are expressive handmade artefacts that are hammered and braised in India by skilled artisans.

For CLOUD, designer Tom Dixon has worked hard to make a collection that has a very natural outcome and is visibly handmade with all of the variety and surface interests that you get from something that’s been handcrafted.

‘Lately there’s been a lot of decoration that’s very geometric and machine-made, but for a while now we have been interested in more organic shapes, as witnessed in MELT and BASH,” explained Tom Dixon.

“The inspiration came partly from the natural world, such as cloud formations, and partly from my fascination with engineering techniques. We chose aluminium as it’s the metal that’s powering the modern world and can be used to create big objects that are very light. The natural grey metallic finish of the raw aluminium also creates soft reflections,” added Dixon.

Tom’s background in metal working and fascination with the vanishing skills of hand panel beating inspired the aesthetics of the new 2021 range. The marks from the maker – every hammer and indentation from stretching and warping the metal are preserved in the final product to reflect the amount of work that’s gone into the design. The organic shapes are reminiscent of seedpods and can be used for a variation of purposes, such as a vase, fruit bowl and champagne bucket.