ABOUT

 Jonathan and Annie Zawada are Australian based artists and designers with a strong 20+ years developing projects within the realms of art and design of multiple disciplines and media. Jonathan takes the lead in creative conceptualizing and he is known for his multi-faceted approach to the respective fields. Their work aims to weave both the analogue and digital, seeking to create tangible artifacts of transient, ephemeral virtual experiences. His work has been exhibited in galleries in Tokyo, Sydney, Paris, London, Los Angeles and New York and awarded multiple accolades.

 ‘Affordance’ is a philosophical idea where objects can have a purpose other than the one their form came into being to achieve.  

The Affordances project came about in 2012 when Jonathan designed and built a side table using materials at hand without access to tools, birthing the title "Affordances" and a cult design in the Y.O.R.I (You Only Reincarnate Infinitely), a multi-colored marble and granite side table which were manufactured and sold as unique one off pieces sold through galleries. The table and it's incarnates are available Matter Made New York. The table has been featured in interior books and magazines.

  This collection of interior pieces are an extension of Jonathan's art practice with the fractal designs continuing to push his exploration of computer based, generative art and further developing how this can be transformed into a form of aesthetic art. 

Rugs were added to the collection of Affordances with the idea of bringing a niche aesthetic to an otherwise rather bland category of home furnishings. The colour and detailed design and irregular shapes being the distinctive feature and each rug has been carved and shaved at varying pile heights to add depth and texture.

Truffles was our first rug and it was featured in 'Open House', an exhibition with Los Angeles-based artist-makers, Elyse Graham, Alex Hagentorn, Alex J. Reed and Jonathan Zawada at the Schindler House in Los Angeles curated by Oliver Furth and Sean Yasher.

The Affordances collection has included vases, lamps, lounge chairs and rugs. More can be discovered here. 

Our fractal designs have been developed over the past 15 years through many incarnations including silk scarves and beautiful prints with literally hundreds of fractals created, (each design has been given a name, using no other logic than gut instinct), however using the designs as large scale, plush, wool rugs has truly given the fractals a new dimension. 

The fractal design was created using fractal generating software, a simplistic computer program that propagates

fractals by entering manipulating through numbers a set of formulas within the generator. It might seem

an impossible task to hand to a rug maker, however this mixture of highly

digital and highly analogue processes has always been at the heart of Zawada’s creative practice. As

Jonathan says “my approach to the work I do is completely inverted to the way it should be done, I like

using the computer for doing the simple stuff and then undertaking the arduous tasks by hand, kind of a

perverse John Henry.”

We are lucky to work with the incredibly delightful Nayla Ventura of Rug Your Life in the production of our rugs. Her years of expertise in rug making guide us through the intricate manufacturing process of our complex designs.

All of our beautiful rugs are made by manufacturers under the Label STEP. Whose work ensures that weavers and workers in the handmade carpet industries around the world are protected, empowered and use environmentally friendly practices.