Transfome is a study of how material, process and place can transform objects. Patty Johnson worked with Wendell Castle’s Icon in USA and with StudioWrap in India, altering ideas originally created during a research and product development project in Haiti.
Just as the Vodu artist transforms space to open the doors to imagination, Johnson re-examined these artifacts and reimagined them as the Transfome collection.
Wendell Castle’s Icon in Leroy, New York made the lacquer versions using CNC technology and custom finishes. StudioWrap in New Delhi, India along with master craftsmen in Rajasthan produced the hand hammered brass editions.
Two faces of contemporary high end manufacturing, producing designs inspired by the struggles and tribulations of one of the world’s oldest religions. Transfome offers a new view into the convergence of design with ethnography, product and artefact.
The name combines the English prefix trans with the Haitian Creole word for form.