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Floral artist Hamish Powell created an installation for ABASK at New York’s Salon Art + Design, incorporating 13 makers from the retailer’s debut lighting collection. The display uses 1,500 repurposed corn husks alongside flowers and greenery to explore how organic materials interact with sculptural lamps and artificial light.
Floral artist Hamish Powell has created an installation for online homeware platform ABASK at New York’s Salon Art + Design, pairing lamps from its debut lighting collection with flowers, greenery and 1,500 repurposed corn husks. The display brings together work by 13 lighting makers and marks the first US presentation of one of Powell’s signature “breathing installations,” according to Livingetc.
Powell’s arrangement was designed around the different materials and forms of the lamps, rather than applying one floral style across the collection. “Because the lamps had their own material language and personality, I wanted to approach each one uniquely, rather than imposing a singular style,” he told Livingetc. He said flowers can make objects feel less static.
The installation includes designs by Yuxuan Huang, Helle Mardahl and Kickie Chudikova, among others. Their lamps use materials and finishes including Murano glass, carved wood, metal, shell, leather and marble. Powell surrounded the works with plant material, including the corn husks that became a central feature of the New York display.
Powell said he first experimented with corn husks while working on an earlier shoot for ABASK’s lighting launch. For a lamp by Kilzi founder Jorge Suárez Kilzi, he arranged the husks around a Japanese-paper and fiberglass shade. “It was only when we turned on the lamp and saw the gorgeous layering of light through the corn husks that it blew my mind,” he told the magazine.
How Plants Change the Lighting Display
The installation gives ABASK’s new lighting category a presentation that shows the pieces in relation to both natural materials and changing light. Instead of treating the lamps as isolated products, Powell’s composition connects their forms to flowers, foliage and reused plant matter. That approach also makes the booth a demonstration of how the objects look as part of a larger interior arrangement.
Powell’s account points to a practical design challenge: a lamp can alter the appearance of the flowers placed near it. He told Livingetc that styling for a light requires two compositions, one with the lamp switched off and another with it on. Backlighting can reveal a petal’s veins or emphasize a plant’s shadow, while warm artificial light can make reds appear nearly black and yellow or orange flowers seem more luminous. These are his observations about the shoot, not a claim that every material will respond in the same way.
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From ABASK Shoot to New York Booth
The New York installation follows Powell’s work on a shoot curated for ABASK’s debut lighting category. Livingetc reports that the collaboration extended beyond that initial project, bringing a version of Powell’s floral approach to the retailer’s booth at Salon Art + Design. The source describes this as the first US outing of one of his signature breathing installations.
Powell is known for floral work associated with fashion houses including Hermès and Loewe, and for a wedding bouquet that went viral after it was made for singer Charli XCX, according to the report. His ABASK project shifts that work into a setting focused on collectible lighting, where the relationship between botanical materials and illumination is central to the presentation.
For another piece in the collection, Yuxuan Huang’s Spring Flower Lamp, Powell used nori sheets attached to wire armatures, drawing on the appearance of underwater kelp. He described the lamp as reminding him of “an underwater creature.” The examples show how he adapted the materials and arrangement to individual designs.
“Because the lamps had their own material language and personality, I wanted to approach each one uniquely, rather than imposing a singular style.”
— Hamish Powell, speaking to Livingetc
What the Report Leaves Unspecified
The source does not give the fair’s exact dates or year, the installation’s dimensions, or how long the display will remain on view. It also does not say whether the corn husks or other botanical materials will be reused after the event, or provide details on how the installation will change as the plants dry or decay. The report describes the work and Powell’s design choices but does not include visitor response, sales figures or an independent assessment of the collection.
The Collection and Its Public Showing
Livingetc reported that ABASK’s lighting collection was live at the time of publication and that Powell’s installation was being presented at Salon Art + Design. The source provides no later schedule for the booth, no announced follow-up exhibition and no further public milestones. Readers seeking the current availability of individual lamps or updates on the installation will need to check ABASK’s own listings or event information.
Key Questions
What did Hamish Powell create for ABASK?
Powell created a floral installation for ABASK’s booth at Salon Art + Design in New York, combining lighting designs with flowers, greenery and 1,500 repurposed corn husks.
How many lighting makers are represented?
Livingetc reports that Powell incorporated work from 13 makers among the 20 lighting makers whose designs contributed to ABASK’s debut lighting line.
Which lamp did Powell say was his favorite?
Powell named Kickie Chudikova’s Pulpopolis series, a group of Murano glass lamps with octopus-like forms. He said their colors and shapes look different from different viewing angles.
Why did Powell use corn husks?
Powell said he had experimented with the material during an earlier ABASK shoot. In the installation, light passing through layers of husks around a lamp produced an effect that surprised him.
What remains unknown about the installation?
The report does not specify the fair’s dates or year, how long the display will remain, or what will happen to the botanical materials afterward.
Source: livingetc.com
