LOLLY LOLLY
CERAMICS ARTIST
COLLABORATION
Lalese Stamps, founder of Lolly Lolly Ceramics, collaborates with Fortner for a pair of custom chairs inspired by her 100 Mugs Series.
From Water & Clay to Fabric & Foam.
“What would happen if we gave a ceramic artist the opportunity to design a custom piece of furniture?” That’s the question we asked ourselves after one of the tenants in our building -Lolly Lolly Ceramics- announced a move out of town.
THE LOLLY LOLLY
COLLABORATION
Bringing Lalese’s Vision to Life.
Lalese Stamps, founder of Lolly Lolly Ceramics, went to school for graphic design and eventually left her design job to focus on Lolly Lolly full time. While working out of The Fort, she enjoyed walks around the Fortner shop where wood, foam, and fabric would come together in elegant ways.
When the Fortner team asked themselves what would happen if they gave an artist from outside of the furniture industry the opportunity to design a custom piece, Lalese was the first artist that came to mind.
After hearing the idea, Lalese jumped at the opportunity to trade in her clay for a needle and thread. Furniture was something she had always wanted to design; for Stamps, part of her artistic pursuit is to flex her creative muscles beyond just ceramics. “Once I started to be able to see…what I can make by hand, like a small piece, I started to imagine bigger pieces and…the way that people interact with furniture has always been really fascinating to me.”
The chair’s design was inspired by one of the mugs from her 100 Day Project. When Fortner’s Mark Cryer met with Lalese to talk about designs, mug 53/100 stood out as something they could bring to a larger scale. Stamps worked alongside Cryer and the rest of the production team picking out fabrics and approving design details.