Discovered:Tanya Aguiniga

Thanks to www.designspongeonline.com, the detailed mecca of design information, I just discovered the website of Tanya Aguiniga, www.aguinigadesign.com, a furniture and textile designer based in Los Angeles. The work is amazing and I needed to share the information. Tanya was born and raised in Tijuana, Mexico and her work is very much influenced by the culture, border issues and community activism that surround Mexico and the US. As her website states, she is influenced by the interconnectedness of societies, the beauty in struggle and the celebration of culture. Her work encourages people to reconsider the objects they use in their daily lives. Some of my personal favorites are the objects that incorporate an element of the natural world, whether in the series of pieces using birchwood or the chairs covered in felt or the chairs built up from layers of threads which come to resemble a type of loom. The work is really different. It considers new possibilities for pillows, tables and seating. In addition she makes beautiful textile objects that are hand woven.