DESIGN CRUSH: ROSIE LI

A Brooklyn-based designer that plays with daring contrasts

In her furniture and lighting, designer Rosie Li enjoys experimenting with the interplay of geometric forms and graphic elements. Her designs challenge visual capabilities and perception, contrasting the ergonomic simplicity of her pieces with lively, frenetic patterns.

Lina, Ellsi and Stella (named for the American painter Frank Stella) comprise Li’s lighting collection. Lina, the highly adaptable modular lighting system, creates airy geometric forms with minimal fasteners and spherical hubs and arms. The pared down all-brass lamp Ellsi includes three legs, two pins and one bulb, with a full-range dimmer knob allowing easy light adjustment. Stella’s Hex and Triangle incorporate a half-mirrored glass diffuser that produces a series of repetitive geometric shapes created by tubular illumination, with changing vantage points on the part of the viewer creating the illusion of infinite space within a finite volume.

The furniture in Li’s collection includes Riley, Striped and Clash. The Riley chair, inspired by the artwork of Bridget Riley, incorporates digital textile print, neoprene, wood and powder-coated steel. The wooden Striped bench uses graphic elements to flatten its boxy volume and appears to transform into a swatch of neon pink stripes when viewed from a single, specific vantage point. In the design of the Clash chair, visual tension is created through the apparent collision of two geometric bodies, yet the viewer is at once set at ease by taking a seat.

A native of Zhengzhou, China, Li moved to the United States when she was three years old. She attended the Rhode Island School of Design in pursuit of her lifelong interest in drawing and sculpting and developed a sharp eye for form, space, and rational design. She graduated in 2011 with a BFA in Furniture Design and currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.