Portrait by Jack Brockway
On Wednesday night I went to the private viewing of Martha Freud’s ‘Mixed Messages’ exhibition at Camley Street Natural Park in conjunction with the London Design Festival and in partnership with the London Wildlife Trust.
After navigating myself through the twists and turns of the park’s path, all sweetly lit by a trail of quirky porcelain tea lights and stopping several times to admire various light and design installations all happily perched amongst their woodland surroundings, I eventually found the gorgeous designer herself – Martha Freud - teeny-tiny and minxy in Vivienne Westwood and Christian Louboutins.
London based Martha, the grand-daughter of Clement, the great-niece of Lucien and the great-great-grand-daughter of Sigmund, studied furniture and product design at Kingston University and has always been inspired by nature - this exhibition is no different; beautiful lights made of porcelain leaves and butterflies and wooden nests made from sustainably sourced branches are amongst the show stopping collection.
There are also really fun handcrafted pigeon hole cabinets with grids of porcelain cups - each cup displaying one word but lighting up for 5-10 seconds creating well known phrases – I could, and did, stare at these for ages.
A glamorous collection of London’s bright and light young things assembled around a bonfire for marshmallows, guitar playing, endless Veuve Clicquot and many bottles of Martha’s favourite tipple – Orangina.
The 'Mixed Messages' Exhibition is open today and tomorrow from 10am-8pm.
Please see Martha's website for further details.
Items from the collection are available as one-offs, limited editions and as commissions.
Please contact info@marthafreud.com for more information.
(L-R) Martha Freud, Caged Butterfly Light, With Jessica Pownall by the Nest Light
(L-R) With Shirley Leigh-Wood Oakes, Leaf Wall Light, Martha Freud in Vivienne Westwood