Tai Ping, the Hong Kong-based manufacturer of bespoke hand-tufted carpets, and French designer Sam Baron have collaborated since 2011. This year marks a new chapter in their enduring creative alliance with the introduction of the Floræ Folium Series, showcased at the brand’s Milan showroom during Milan Design Week.
The ten-piece collection stems from a 2022 experimental project originally comprising three works based on anamorphosis – a technique wherein a distorted image reveals its true form only when viewed from a specific vantage point. The current series expands upon this premise, translating the floral motif across square, rectangular, and circular formats. Each model is designated by a Latin name paired with a specific colorway.
The designs merge geometric composition with artisanal execution. Renderings of petals, pistils, and foliage unfold through varied graphic configurations, utilizing central motifs, diagonals, borders, or solid fields. The visual composition employs layering and clustering to alter image perception relative to the observer’s distance.
Crafted via traditional hand-tuft techniques, the pieces introduce topstitching on select sections of the design. This process translates the preparatory watercolors through precise calibration of gradients and tonal shifts, enhanced by relief effects executed by the manufacture’s craftsmen. Curated by Baron, the Milanese exhibition space replicated an artist’s studio. The display juxtaposed the finished carpets, suspended as tapestries, with archival materials documenting the creative genesis: sketches, preliminary drawings, and textile samples.
