Nowadays, it seems like current lighting trends lean more toward minimalist shapes and neutral palettes. While a slender floor lamp or simple pendant chandelier can certainly tie a room together, they sure can be boring to look at.
Tired of basic lighting options, artists Abby Kasonik and Kiki Slaughter pooled their talent to create a collaboration of statement lamps that take home lighting to new heights.
Kasonik and Slaughter are contemporary artists with an inclination for the abstract. Both originally from Charlottesville, they met through the local art scene years ago.
Kasonik, who studied sculpture at Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of the Arts, creates a variety of ceramic pieces, including lamp bases, vases, urns, mirrors, and plates. Her painting work ranges from the purely abstract to more abstract landscapes. “I probably lean a bit heavier on the abstract landscape side of it,” says Kasonik.
Slaughter went to UVA and started painting as soon as she graduated. “My work is very abstract, with lots of large-scale oils on canvas with color and texture,” she says. “Sometimes there’s a little bit of realism; the Blue Ridge Mountains sneak into my work a lot.” Driven by her motto, “art everywhere,” Slaughter translates her original artwork into wallpapers and textiles. “It’s about taking my art beyond the canvas onto other parts of the home. That’s why this lamp collaboration is a perfect thing to do with Abby.”
The idea to do a collaboration was a bit of a light bulb (no pun intended) moment for the artists. “I was having my house shot for a house feature and I needed to spiff it up a bit, so I asked Abby if I could borrow some of her lamps,” says Slaughter. “When I went over to her studio, we were both like, wait, why aren’t we collaborating together? Abby was having trouble finding beautiful lamp shades for her incredible lamps, and I wanted a way to expand what I was doing.”
For this first collaboration, the duo designed nine one-of-a-kind lamps. The shades were created using textiles with Slaughter’s original artwork, and Kasonik sculpted the bases and wired the hardware. The lamps are works of art in their own right, and they can be incorporated into a variety of decor styles, serving as functional centerpieces in a neutral-toned or minimally decorated room, or fitting into a maximalist aesthetic with mismatched patterns and shapes.
“Coral Form” features a bright, pleated linen shade made from Slaughter’s painting “Moments / Rainbow.” Organic brushstrokes in a rainbow of colors fill the shade, which pairs perfectly with a turquoise base formed to look like an organic coral formation.
“Circus Pony” is a whimsical, over-the-top maximalist dream. A colorful, blotted shade and a striped blue urn-style base sits on top of a tall black and white pedestal.
Lamps from the original collection are available for purchase on Kasonik’s and Slaughter’s websites, and are priced upwards of $1,500. The duo also accept commissions to remake a particular lamp design. Later this year, Kasonik and Slaughter also plan on releasing a second line of lamps with new colorways and bases.
Shop the Abby Kasonik x Kiki Slaughter collaboration at abbykasonik.com and kikislaughter.com.