Other Matter & Made by Morgen at Melbourne Design Week
Jessie French of Other Matter introduces MarbleWood, an algae-derived marbled surface, and a new seating range upholstered in Other Matter Leather, created with Made by Morgen for Melbourne Design Week.
Words HANDE RENSHAW Photos RAFET GRIMA
Other Matter Leather is a new organic, non-toxic upholstery material made entirely from offcuts and end-of-life signage drawn back from the studio's own algae-derived OM Signage Film.
Other Matter introduces Other Matter Leather, an organic upholstery material made from reclaimed algae-derived signage film, debuting in the relaunched Made by Morgen seating range.
Created by Jessie French, MarbleWood is a marbled surface made from an algae-derived polymer, coloured with locally-milled artist pigments, hand-poured onto timber, and presented in two collectible works developed in collaboration with Made by Morgen.
“Marbled surfaces have always been a way of making with movement and singularity, of holding deep time visible in a surface. With MarbleWood I wanted to enter that lineage from the other side: not by imitating stone, but by working with the same family of organisms that, across deep geological time, became it.”
Developed by Other Matter, MarbleWood creates a marble-like surface when poured over timber substrates. Shown here as cabinet inlays, the material can also be applied across panelling and joiner
Jessie French is an artist and designer based in Naarm/Melbourne, working at the intersection of material research and contemporary practice.
The Quarry Cabinet is one of the debut works collaboratively designed with Melbourne furniture studio Made by Morgen, who fabricated both pieces.
As part of Melbourne Design Week, Jessie French presents two new works through her Naarm-based materials research studio Other Matter, which she founded, developed in collaboration with Melbourne furniture practice Made by Morgen.
Spanning furniture, surface design and collectible works, the releases continue Jessie’s exploration of how algae-derived materials can be reworked through contemporary craft and local production.
The first release, Other Matter Leather, transforms reclaimed offcuts and end-of-life OM Signage Film into an organic, non-toxic upholstery material designed for furniture and interior use. Produced entirely within other matter’s closed-loop system, the material debuts through a reworked Made by Morgen seating collection spanning a chair, stool and high stool. The project continues Jessie’s interest in creating materials that move beyond petrochemical dependency while remaining grounded in practical application and contemporary design.
Alongside it sits MarbleWood, Jessie’s first collectible body of work. Developed from an algae-derived bioplastic hand-poured onto solid timber, the marbled surface is coloured using locally milled pigments from Melbourne artist materials house Langridge. Rather than following a fixed pattern, each surface develops organically during the pouring process, creating tonal movement and compositions unique to every piece.
The material is introduced through the Quarry Cabinet and Quarry Table, two collectible works created with Made by Morgen as part of Tactile Dialogues: Fragments of Matter during Melbourne Design Week. Referencing the visual language of stone while approaching materiality through biology, MarbleWood draws from Jessie’s ongoing interest in geological processes, surface history and the relationship between natural systems and contemporary craft.
‘With MarbleWood I wanted to enter that lineage from the other side: not by imitating stone, but by working with the same family of organisms that, across deep geological time, became it,’ says Jessie.
Grounded in local collaboration and material research, the projects will debut in Melbourne before travelling on to ICFF New York and Copenhagen’s 3 Days of Design in the weeks following.
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Melbourne Design Week 2026: 14 – 24 May
