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I was excited to preview the new RH Jacksonville location days before it opened on November 19, 2022. What first struck me about the RH Jacksonville’s spectacular interior were the light fixtures and chandeliers. I knew there had to be a story there. The story is Alison Berger lighting.
RH introduced a partnership with glass designer and artist Alison Berger in December of 2020. Alison Berger light fixtures and chandeliers are globally-revered artworks with her pieces appearing in the permanent collection of the Corning Museum of Glass while being shown at the Museum of Modern Art and the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York.
After more than 20 years of designing bespoke pieces in her Los Angeles–based atelier, Berger unveiled five exclusive collections for RH in late 2020, marking the first time her acclaimed work will be available outside the Trade.
Alison Berger’s art and design are driven by a lifelong fascination with uncovering and decoding the mysteries of various glass working processes. Attuned to the way light marks the passage of time, throughout the day and throughout the seasons, she seeks to capture those defining qualities in objects, furniture and lighting that provide moments of thoughtful observation.
“I’ve always believed light is healing. Objects that are well made have a certain energy to them and when things are crafted with care, they take on a life of their own,” Berger said in announcing the partnership. “These collections each have their own story and bring a meditative energy into the home I’ve had such a great privilege of doing installations for private clients the last 20 years, and I’m thrilled to bring my work into the public arena for the first time with RH.”
Berger’s first-time product collaboration follows her initial work with the brand in 2018, a six-story permanent lighting installation entitled “New York Night” prominently displayed at RH New York, The Gallery in the Historic Meatpacking District. Each of these new collections for RH–Rain, Fulcrum, Pearl, Ice Table and Aperture–was conceptualized as a series inspired by elements found in nature and conceived to Berger’s exacting specifications.
The Rain Lighting Collection features dramatic drops of weighty, handblown glass suspended from slim black cords, creating the illusion of underwater illumination and casting luminous ripples that wash across ceilings and walls.
Drawing inspiration from antique scales and other instruments of measure, the Fulcrum Lighting Collection is defined by cloches and spheres of handblown glass that are suspended from metal frames in perfect equipoise.
The Pearl Lighting Collection is influenced by the Venetian inciso technique and showcases glass spheres carved with intricate grooves that create shimmering layers of light.
In the Ice Table Collection, a sculptural, hand cast metal base elevates a slab of glass as thick and rippled as a block of ice, inviting light to pass through and skim its surface, transforming it throughout the day.
Berger’s first mirror collection, Aperture, features a bold sculptural design that utilizes layered scaffolding to hold a swiveling glass lens, which magnifies and distorts the details of a room and casts ever-changing patterns of shadow and light.
ABOUT RHRH (NYSE: RH)
RH is a curator of design, taste and style in the luxury lifestyle market. The Company offers collections through its retail galleries, source books and online at RH.com, RHModern.com, RHBabyandChild.com, RHTEEN.com, and Waterworks.com.
ABOUT ALISON BERGER
Alison Berger began working with glass at the age of fifteen, beginning a lifelong fascination with uncovering and decoding the mysteries of various glass working processes. After receiving a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and continuing her studies at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, she established Alison Berger Glassworks in 1994.
The first American artist commissioned by Hermès to design a line of objects, she received the Elle Deco International Design Award for lighting, and her work continues to be exhibited and published extensively throughout the United States, Europe and Asia.
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