Tell us about sa:k design studio, how did it take off?
– I am an industrial designer and have studied product design in Malmœ and industrial design in Lund at IKDC. In 2021 I started sa:k design studio. “Sa:k” is a play on letters from my full name, but also the basis of the work: things. We are constantly surrounded by things, physical things but also more abstract objects. The focus of my work is to create utility objects and furniture slightly outside the contemporary design world. By exploring social patterns and behaviors as well as different materials and manufacturing methods, I want to create sustainable design that tells a story. This has led to everything from furniture that encourages “good enough”, to circular candles created from recycled candle-wax from Malmö restaurants.

 

What fascinates you and what is your biggest source of inspiration in your creativity?
– I am inspired a lot by fashion and art in general and by encounters in concerning shape and color. It is contrasts and the slightly skewed that arouse my interest. I am also inspired by experimental and exploratory ways of working, and like the feeling of not knowing from the beginning how the end result will be. With the candles, I am fascinated by the fact that it is a material that is very volatile, we melt it down with ease but at the same time it is extremely durable and does not age. We can choose to let the candles burn down with the feeling of luxury it gives us, but if we don’t light them, they last forever.

How does the process of creating these unique candles go from idea to finished product? Does it differ from time to time?
– Every week I collect lots of leftover candles from restaurants and cafes in and around Malmö. These residues of candle must be processed and prepared for melting, by removing the wicks, for example, a very time-consuming job. I get some colored scraps too, mainly from friends and acquaintances and these scraps are what give color to the candles, no other colors are added. I select and hand pick colored and white scraps and look forward to seeing the results when I take the candles out of the molds. Many of the candles are made in different parts which I then assemble together.

 

What different techniques do you use to create these unique lights?
– I find the inspiration for the shapes and then I shape them either by hand in e.g. clay or 3D-model them. The next step will be to make molds for the casting, and there I have gone from using only silicone, which is a perfect material for candles, to casting in other materials such as sand, e.g. to be able to be freer in forms. The silicone moulds are so durable and expensive that you’re almost locked into a shape once you’ve made the silicone mould, and I’d rather move on and try new things.

You have collected leftover candles and made candles from them before, is there anything else that you do for a more positive climate development?
– I want sustainability to be a common thread in my design, but it doesn’t always have to be on the most obvious of places. Last spring I designed a table that can be transformed from a dining table to a coffee table, but without compromising on quality and design. This is a way to question the view of the collapsible as equal to the temporary and less sustainable, because our furniture and interior design is a big impact on the environment, we have to start thinking less but better. In the What matter_s collaboration, the focus was on residues from Kivik’s musteri’s production, and the concept was to produce high-tech bioplastic from the sludge in their treatment plant.

 

Tell us about the products that we have received for APLACE, how did you develop these?
– The candles that have now landed in Aplace stores are inspired by the contrast in the durability of the material and how it serves us with light and then melts away. I wanted to give the candles personality, a new shape and have handpicked different colored wax and put them in different combinations. All colors come solely from reused and repurposed candle-wax. The candles have had a life before, and gave everyday luxury to someone’s dinner, and now they get a new life and new value in my light sculptures. It should feel as luxurious to pick out the candles as it actually is when we choose to light them. The combinations of the melted shapes and colors also become a beautiful eye-catcher.

 

You can find the lights from s:ak design studio in-store in all APLACE stores now.