Vestige is a minimal lamp created by Australia-based designer Ross Gardam. As part of Furiosalone in the Brera Design District, Australian designer Ross Gardam unveiled his first solo exhibition for Milan Design Week titled ‘TRANSCENDENCE.’ Renowned for his work in lighting design and fondness for glass, this showing provided a showcase for Gardam’s signature aesthetic: sharp geometry and inspired simplicity. The exhibition displayed a multitude of pieces, a testament to Gardam’s studio’s ingenuity and commitment to the exploration of traditional glass-working techniques. This was also Gardam’s platform to introduce three new collections and two limited edition pieces, all of which exhibited his dedication to pursuing innovation and perfection in glass manipulation. Among the new pieces presented, Vestige stood out with its monolithic rectangular base from which a solid parabolic cone with a concave face emerges.
Crafted from cast crystal glass by acclaimed glass artist Peter Kovacsy, Vestige offers an appreciation of the texture and volume of glass. Despite its ambiguous, brutalist-inspired sculptural form, ‘Vestige’ reveals its true nature when lit, maximizing the cast glass’s scale and volume to accentuate its radiance. The table lamp uses the subtlety of lit cast glass not just to stun viewers but to evoke a moment of awe and wonder. The creation of Vestige resulted from a collaboration with Kovacsy, a sculptural artist whose work with large-scale cast glass mirrors the secluded southern regions of Western Australia. This partnership marries Kovacsy’s unique glass-working talents with Gardam’s fascination for geometric precision and the surrealistic qualities of light. The minimalist forms of ‘Vestige’ are achieved through a meticulous process, each glass form is paired with a raw aluminum base and a machined conical dimmer, all of which are handmade, polished, and waxed.