When we started working with resin in the 1980s, we were art students. There was really no one else working with it in the way we wanted to. Resin really does have a mind of its own, it’s very painterly, so we had to invent our own manufacturing techniques.

Making pieces from resin is very much like making pottery: you never know exactly how it will turn out. We love that serendipity, that law of chance, finding that one idea leads to another. Every piece our studio makes is crafted by hand, passing through many pairs of hands in the process, giving each piece the slight differences that make it unique.

Resin is a byproduct of oil which is often sent to landfill. In a way, we are using something
that is a waste product and making something of value from it. This is just one of the reasons we work responsibly, to minimise waste and reduce our electricity consumption. We don’t design things to be thrown away; we design pieces we hope people will treasure and value for a long time.

The studio has the most beautiful light that pours in through the windows. It’s a very
important place for us. It’s where we create and develop our designs and produce our resin pieces by hand. It’s a place of work but it’s also very personal - almost like an extension of our home, although we now have a team of about 140, including our stores in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, New York and London, but the heartland is the studio in Redfern, Sydney.

When we design, each of us independently works to a theme or a word that inspires us, we create our own mood boards and sketches, then bring them together, draw them out and create the forms so there are pieces of both of us in each collection, but with a shared vocabulary which makes a cohesive whole. We create three collections a year, some of which focus on new colour palettes, some on new shape, some on both colour and shape.

Working in design is a wonderful privilege. It’s a great way to study the world. It’s a never-ending exploration where we’re constantly inspired by nature. This is just one of the reasons we use sustainable working methods and minimise waste and electricity consumption.

Our aesthetic has refined and evolved over the years. We’re now at a point where we’ve
mastered our techniques but are constantly surprised by the possibilities that arise from
working with resin. We love the contrast in textures that’s created by adding elements of
other materials, including silver, brass and glass to our collections and we’re always asking ‘what’s next?’ as we get excited by the creative process and the journey it takes you on.

When you’re working, ideas start to flow. There’s a lovely quote from Picasso: ‘Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.’ That’s why working is so important, whether you’re painting, drawing or creating objects: in the process, the ideas flow.