Design in Focus: Studio Lloyd

Interweaving solid materials with the ephemeral qualities of light, Ashleigh Lloyd’s lighting designs – from substantial installations to lamps to adorn tables – are intricate, meticulously crafted, showstopping works of functional art.

Ashleigh has always been “infatuated” with negative space, and in crochet she found the perfect expression of it. Her light sculptures are all about the light and shadow patterns they make. The lights also look different by day and by night, with the focus shifting from the object’s colour and shape to the illuminated patterns and ambient glow it creates.

Learning the ropes

It was almost inevitable that Ashleigh would grow up to be some kind of designer or crafter. Her parents ran a restoration business; her father, a mechanical engineer and “collector of beautiful objects”, was always taking things apart and fixing them. From her creative mother, she learnt how to crochet – something that’s become her signature. “Their combined influence, precision, practicality and artistry is embedded in everything I create today,” she says.

Ashleigh went on to study industrial design, and made her mark in her final year of studies with a piece called “Molecular” for Southern Guild’s ‘A New Wave’ exhibition. A large-scale, chandelier-like installation, it was where the idea of applying the traditional technique of crochet to lighting design first took flight.

Material magic

Her sculptural lights are made by crocheting rope around large metal frames. She uses marine MFP (multi-filament braided) rope in various thicknesses and colours, which is designed to withstand the elements, insects, mildew, decay and UV rays. It’s extremely durable, which is part of Ashleigh’s sustainable ethos – these lights will last for years.

Recent designs include the “Optic” range – a pendant light, standing lamp and wall lamp – inspired by the shape of a lens and made with different finishes (brass, nickel or powder-coated steel with marble elements).

The Theia table lamp (recently seen at Decorex and inspired by the Greek goddess of light) is a collaboration with Nammu Ceramics, featuring a vase-like base and crocheted lampshade.

Let there be light

Ashleigh founded her studio in 2016, and has done most of her custom work for the hospitality industry and private interior-design projects in Africa, the Middle East and America. Through her international commissions and involvement in design fairs and expos, she’s realised “the world is turning its gaze to the southern hemisphere, where cities are vibrant and creativity is abundant.” It is here that she finds her ideas – apart from crochet, she is also inspired by Africa’s craft culture and organic shapes found in nature.

In Cape Town, an example of her work can be seen in the restaurant at the Norval Foundation in Tokai – a five-metre piece called “Amoeba”; a project she says “put us on the map”. She has just completed the lighting for the reimagined Nobu space at One&Only Cape Town, and is currently working on pieces for a lodge in Victoria Falls.

Studio Lloyd has made furniture and other decor items, but going forward Ashleigh aims to focus solely on lighting and ranges of “smaller, more accessible pieces” for home decor. Ultimately, she says, “We want to celebrate craft as a high-end, collectable asset. In a rapidly evolving technological world, we strive to blend traditional techniques with innovation, creating distinctive designs.”

Studio Inospace at Island Works, 22 Cumberland Road, Paarden Eiland, Cape Town
Opening times Monday – Thursday, 8.30am – 4pm; Friday until 3pm
Contact 082 074 8340, [email protected]

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