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Ashkan Efard

@ashkan.efard

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Brooklyn
I like pretty things
Founder @smwhereco

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Piece 2 of 7: Floor lamp - Black lacquered maplewood

The series (tentatively titled Under the Tongue of the Beast) stems from an interest in the creaturesque presence of objects in spaces and draws from stories from my childhood, whispered by my mother and grandmother at night, when the fear of darkness kept me in their rooms longer than I’d like to admit. These stories (part fabrication, part inherited folklore) were shaped by centuries of Persian literature and poetry that saturate the culture. And so I began digging: for memories, traces of feeling, fragments of fear, and the images my mind once created to haunt me. Their obscure names used to send chills down my spine.

One in particular stayed with me: a creature that emerged during the hellish heat of the early afternoon in my southern hometown, when the entire city sought refuge indoors and the streets fell silent for the midday nap. A sunlit midnight, when shutters closed and shops went dark. If you didn’t sleep, my mother warned, the dosardogoush would come for you: her way of enforcing our mandatory rest.

Though more comical than terrifying, the image remains: a slow-moving creature with two heads joined tightly together and four long, horn-like ears. Charred by the sun, it crept out from the palm trees and onto the sleeping streets.

This lamp is a tribute to that creature, to whom I owe many delicious naps. taken in Greenpoint, Brooklyn by @ashkan.efard

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a year ago

So what’s with all the Jazz? Join us on December 12 at 6 pm to find out.
Rsvp in bio.

Check out the insane talent and come see it for yourself:
@alice.malaret @baguette.silhouette @e__xu @el.goodrz @eliz.fan @kalver____________ @koolw4ve @kourosmaghsoudi @mark_malecki @marius_perraud @nazanin.efard @studio.s.ii @xaver1000 by @ashkan.efard

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2 years ago

Mexico City in February never got its own post because I told my (now ex) boss I had to fly to Texas to take care of my sick aunt for a few weeks. The G train is 15 minutes away. I think of the earthquake alert, of the specific shadows of large trees, of Matt who was the best temporary roommate, of Berto and that Pueblan volcano, of Anyi who dropped her bag of chips when I showed up to the airbnb, of when I asked her to be my wife and she said no.
The G is 11 minutes away. It just rained a bunch, spreading the fire of this hot red July sunset across this vast ocean of the sky. It is hot down on the platform but summer is here and my heart is warm. by @ashkan.efard

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3 months ago

Piece 4 of 7: The Hex Table. Black Lacquered wood.

Meditation on objects: A table is a sacred ground. 3 stills from memory:

Still one: Nowruz. A white meadow of chamomiles. 8 children running around, each with a bubble-thin plastic bag. The wet winter that passed has made the countryside bloom in whites and yellows. Later, a landscape of crumpled Chamomile flowers spread flat on a table, tucked away from the breeze that would blow them away. Keep the window closed, they warn, or next winter there will be no Chamomile tea.

Still two: Dark living room with blue tones. The faint sun filtering through a mesh curtain and onto a carpet of round shelled walnuts on a table, casting navy blue shadows with sharp edges. A 6 or 7 year-old boy. Mid fall. The table, three times as long as he is tall, is occupied until the walnuts are dry. The grandma’s fingers are blackened from the green peels of the walnuts.

Still three: Brooklyn. I pull my dining table away from the diagonal wall I face day in and day out on my computer which has become a permanent fixture of this sacred table. The surface looks unfamiliar without my cords and notebooks. I spread out the flowers, make a mess of their petals and water. Today, the table is my studio. Then I start arranging the plates, wine glasses, the butter bowls, the cutting board for the seared pears. Hosting these semiannual wine parties has become a ritual, and the table is always the shrine. by @ashkan.efard

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7 months ago

Piece 3 of 7: The tall wall sconce

A preview of the third piece in the collection “Under the Tongue of the Beast.” I am still figuring out my design process but this one came to me on its own. It took almost no work.

My apartment is deeper than it is wide. The ceilings are high and the walls tall. The living room where I spend my mornings absorbs all the light that makes it through the low windows; that fleeting sun of those dark December days, all faint and thin. One quiet morning as I stared at the dark walls they felt almost monolithic, taller than usual. And somewhere on the black curtains between my pupils and the big windowless room in my head where images and thoughts reside, I saw a tall ominous 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘰𝘶𝘴 creature latching onto the wall adjacent to the kitchen. I stared, longer than I usually do. I studied its form, morphing, moving, slanting, never falling. And I just knew that if it lost its grip, it would have these beautiful featherbound wings hidden somewhere on its body, that it would span them to propel its fragile thorax.

It took many weeks to then bring it to life, at least on the screen. These slides imagine a few rooms it would occupy. I’m still not quite sure which one(s) I like so feel free to let me know what you think.

Renderings by @smwhereco by @ashkan.efard

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8 months ago

Ugly times. Beautiful places.

Thank you to @n.efard for being the most amazing host. by @ashkan.efard

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9 months ago

Findings of a day. On the fence about the blazer but feeling good about the french/half tuck. taken in Paris by @ashkan.efard

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10 months ago

“Resting on a Thunder Cloud” is a dark twist on the dream-like idea of “resting on a cloud”— taking soft materials and forms, with an intense and sultry color palette, and a narrative driven by patterns, painted figures, and layered visual narratives that guide the viewer through a story of seeking refuge within turbulence—finding solace not in the absence of chaos, but within it. Here, the storm becomes a sanctuary.

This exhibition suggests that even the fiercest storm can become a space to retreat, restore, and the foundation of a dream.

@alcova.milano x Miami group show.

Photo 1 @piergiorgiosorgetti
Photos 2-11 @benedettorebecca
Curated and directed by @jirah.joshua
Produced by @ashkan.efard

Featuring a mural by @jirah.joshua + a centerpiece coffee table by @ashkan.efard x @jirah.joshua

Designers :
@afs.dsgn
@arrived.aliens
@ashkan.efard
@basetale.studio
@etamorph
@furnobject
@lelasophiajewelry
@monicacuriel.art
@sietestudio_
@sydneyohceramics
@zyanyacruzaguilar by @ashkan.efard

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10 months ago

For a designer with severe self-criticism and a terminal case of nothing’s-ever-good-enough, I have to say, this lamp has a piece of my heart. Maybe we bonded over the trauma of making it out of hardwood, CNC’ing end-grain for the first time, fucking things up about 30 different times, irritating the entire staff of @/makerspacenyc. But I’m quite cool with it. Yeah no yeah.

Photos taken by yours sincerely around my apartment and building in Greenpoint. Dm to schedule your next shoot (jk please don’t). taken in Greenpoint, Brooklyn by @ashkan.efard

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a year ago

From studio to Uhaul. Uhaul to WSA, you left the tape, you forgot the drill, you brought the drill, Sydney is waiting downstairs but wait, the freight elevator is full. The badges drop on the floor, you need a sharpie, suddenly you’re shaking - it’s 4 pm and you forgot to eat but wait the movers are here but your phone is ringing…
8 days of that with @jrah and I would (and we will) do it all over again.

A belated but heartfelt thank you to all of you who stopped by our booth at @collectiblefair and to the incredibly talented designers who trusted and exhibited with @room_file

Much more. Very soon.
(Some 📸: @marcus.xoxo) taken in WSA NYC by @ashkan.efard

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a year ago

Little things that bring me big joy taken in Greenpoint, Brooklyn by @ashkan.efard

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a year ago

A thousand roads lead a man forever towards Louis Blanc taken in Paris 10e by @ashkan.efard

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a year ago