The Dancer Collection from Coco Flip + Belinda Wiltshire
Inspired by the principles of Bauhaus design, the Dancer collection from Coco Flip & Belinda Wiltshire is a series of beautiful and intricate handmade ceramic lighting pieces.
WORDS: Hande Renshaw I PHOTOGRAPHY: Tom Ross, Pier Carthew & Michael Pham I STYLING: Jessica Lillico & Marsha Golemac
Dancer Angled Wall Light by Coco Flip x Belinda Wiltshire. Photo: Tom Ross. Styling: Jessica Lillico
Dancer Table Lamp by Coco Flip x Belinda Wiltshire. Photo: Tom Ross. Styling: Jessica Lillico
Dancer Angled Wall Light by Coco Flip x Belinda Wiltshire. Photo: Pier Carthew. Styling: Marsha Golemac
Dancer Table Lamp by Coco Flip x Belinda Wiltshire. Photo: Tom Ross. Styling: Jessica Lillico
Dancer Angled Wall Light by Coco Flip x Belinda Wiltshire. Photo: Tom Ross. Styling: Jessica Lillico
Dancer Angled Wall Light by Coco Flip x Belinda Wiltshire. Dancer Angled Wall Light in by Coco Flip x Belinda Wiltshire. Photo: Tom Ross. Styling: Jessica Lillico
Dancer Table Lamp by Coco Flip x Belinda Wiltshire. Photo: Tom Ross. Styling: Jessica Lillico
Dancer Table Lamp by Coco Flip x Belinda Wiltshire. Photo: Pier Carthew. Styling: Marsha Golemac
Dancer Angled Wall Light & Dancer Table Lamp by Coco Flip x Belinda Wiltshire. Photo: Pier Carthew. Styling: Marsha Golemac
Melbourne-based artist and ceramicist Belinda Wiltshire works from her pottery studio in Preston to create the lighting pieces in the Dancer collection, in collaboration with Coco Flip—each piece is wheel-thrown, hand-finished and fired by the artist herself, giving each lamp an authentic human touch.
It’s been twelve months since Coco Flip co-founder Kate Stokes first connected with Belinda, after being fascinated by her work. Since then, the pair have worked together on the design of the Dancer collection—with many studio visits and prototypes along the way. ‘I think the constant back and forth between design and process we have maintained without pressure or panic, leaving plenty of space for both failure and success has led us to a range that just has that little something extra, and I think it shows,’ shares Belinda.
The new collection includes table lamps, wall lights, cylinder and mounted ceiling lights in various sizes, offered in three stripe finishes—wide, thin and spaced. Each piece is crafted using mid-fire clay and brushed with black iron oxide, providing a striking contrast against the warm brown clay. ‘I love working with the oxide, it has a beautiful deep inky quality when I’m brushing it on, it’s the part of the process that I enjoy most. I’m just realising as I’m saying that, I probably love it because it connects me to the tactile process of painting I’m used to,’ says Belinda.
Belinda and Kate’s mutual appreciation for the Bauhaus movement led them to explore the distinctive costume designs created by Bauhaus instructor Oskar Schlemmer for his 1912 Triadisches Ballet, finding the rich creative avant-garde work an inspiration for the pieces. ‘Aesthetically I’m drawn to the principals of Bauhaus design and the idea that simplicity and basic form can sometimes be the most striking. But veering off from there, I like my work to have more of a human touch as well, so I keep my mark-making freehand. I guess that’s where the sense of freedom and personality comes in,’ Belinda says.
Each lamp is adorned in the humble stripe, a design element that has been a constant in many of Belinda’s pieces in the past. ‘It sounds so simple, but now I know the answer I see it in so many of my previous works and inspirations. The stripe, to me, is the perfect vessel for combining uniformity and freedom’ she says.
Although Belinda had experimented with lighting design in her work previously, her knowledge was limited when it came to the technical side of putting pieces together. ‘I am so happy with the way the light has been integrated within these designs, it has brought forward a dimension that I hadn’t seen in my work before. I think this goes hand-in-hand with the functionality too. I’m so looking forward to people enjoying these pieces not only as sculptures but being able to interact and receive the simple benefit of light, feels undeniably wholesome to me.’
The Coco Flip x Belida Wiltshire Dancer collection is available now
‘The stripe, to me, is the perfect vessel for combining uniformity and freedom,’ says Belinda Wiltshire. Photo: Michael Pham
‘Aesthetically I’m drawn to the principals of Bauhaus design and the idea that simplicity and basic form can sometimes be the most striking,’ says Belinda Wiltshire. Photo: Michael Pham
“There’s something really satisfying about clay. It doesn’t matter what stage you take it to or how accomplished you are, you can get an instant result straight from your hand. It’s like no other medium.”
Photo: Michael Pham
‘I don’t know if it’s considered lucky or unlucky, but I’m inspired constantly from every direction. I find the hard part is weeding through it all and pulling on threads that have something in common.’ Photo: Michael Pham
Each piece in the collection is wheel-thrown, hand-finished and fired by the artist. Photo: Michael Pham
‘I love working with the oxide, it has a beautiful deep inky quality when I’m brushing it on, it’s the part of the process that I enjoy most. I’m just realising as I’m saying that, I probably love it because it connects me to the tactile process of painting.’ Photo: Michael Pham
