ARTIST IN RESIDENCE — ARTIST IN RESIDENCE

Our new artist, Tom Mackie, has taken up residence in our Wellington Abel Fabriek.

Tom has crafted the limited edition ‘Abel Stool’, drawing inspiration from the sculptural elegance of a fragrance bottle. This work reinterprets a vessel that is sensual yet practical into a piece of sculptural furniture.

Works currently on show at our flagship store, Abel Fabriek — 83 Aro Street, Wellington.

"When Frances and the Abel team invited me to present work at the Fabriek, I was incredibly honoured. Working as an artist is often a solo endeavour so having the opportunity to create a work in collaboration with the Abel brought a new kind of inspiration.

With the walls adorned by Ana Kraš’s beautiful photographic images, I wanted to make a sculptural floor work which could be modular and interactive as well as fun and playful.

The artistic process started with the Abel bottle itself. I drew inspiration from the sensual yet practical form of the fragrance bottle and looked at ways I could reinterpret that into a functional sculpture. Balancing precision with softness was key so I experimented extensively with different materials and shapes until I was happy with both the form and function of the design. The result is the ‘Abel Stool'."

"For me, the beginning of a project usually starts with a vision in my head of what I could create. I then start sketching concepts, bringing the ideas in my head onto paper and playing around with how they look together.

The next step is taking my favourite concepts from the sketches and turning these into cardboard prototypes to see if they actually work in a practical sense – this part always takes the longest as it’s essential to get right.

The process can be daunting as the ideas rarely look the same as they did in my mind. But it’s about trusting the process and learning to celebrate and embrace the unexpected outcomes along the way."

"I was immediately drawn to the Abel fragrance bottle with its soft glass curves and cylindrical top. These elements became the foundation for the design, as I wanted to translate the bottle’s forms into a piece of furniture that evokes the same sense of softness and solidity.

When choosing a colour, I knew I wanted to match Abel’s signature green but I was nervous that the intensity might be too much. But in the final stages it became clear that the colour provides the perfect contrast to the timber’s soft, organic curves: a balance of subtlety and softness paired with something bold, playful, and fun."