ICFF in 2024 GEN Z emerging designer sculptures in Zlata Semenko

the billie eilish effect

An interesting sub-headline for DANIEL PLUS LAUREN to use with day 2 of ICFF/ WantedDesign here in New York City. It’s just like your choice of pop music, do you want deep and relatable, or do you want fun pop? Here, with a new class of independent emerging designers showcasing their collections here at ICFF, you’re gifted with how they play with ideas. One student playing both sides of easy and difficult is Zlata Senenko with her glass-like sculptures not made of glass, but resin.

If you find yourself in a phase where the only pop music for you are deep feelings causing you to cry, pull yourself out right away, find a balance. But anyway, Zlata Senenko relates to that process where machines are not needed, it’s all handmade. Zlata creates sculptures not purely from glass, but uses resin to create lighting fixtures and other fine pieces in her collection.

Zlata first starts out by creating the hardware white brass fixtures first before going soft. The softness is in the resin molding process where it’s melted down to shape the hanging light fixtures. But it’s not all soft feels, you also get rugged edges with drops of water, plus white brass striking top and middle.

To be exact, the piece is called WOLT, it erases borders between art and furnishings. The WOLT pendant light is a contemporary embodiment of two worlds, functioning as an art piece to elevate space, and creating interest for an interior. The artful part of WOLT is handmade resin sculpting this inviting light piece while white brass hardware levels up interest with bold placement.

As for the Billie Eilish reference, DANIEL PLUS LAUREN thought it was ironic for Zlata to describe her work as easy and hard. Billie Eilish’s third album just dropped on Friday titled “HIT ME HARD AND SOFT”. It’s clear that art doesn’t have to just venture into being all abstract or even relaxing (both are thought provoking). You can create an incredible art sculpture like Zlata Senenko’s WOLT light fixture where both hard and soft meet to please your preferred taste.

Much like deep or relatable pop, the Zlata Senanko process is totally organic. For one, there’s no machines involved when sculpting resin for WOLT, leading to this fine handmade work to be 100 percent sustainable. We all grow and evolve as artists of any small and large form following our early works. All the emerging independent designers participating here at ICFF have arrived at the high talent level, and are sure to do greater things after ICFF. Zlata Senenko is highly in the driver’s seat to show the world what else she can do with home decor, with works like WOLT and other items leading the way.

Daniel Quintanilla