LONDON.- Carpenters Workshop Gallery London presents Reflections, a show of work by the acclaimed British designer Paul Cocksedge. Illustrating the evolution of his imaginative and unorthodox practice, the exhibited pieces range from Cocksedge’s earlier work to his most recent, including new additions to the Slump series, all embodying his skill and precision with reflection, mass, materiality and light. Coinciding with the release of a new monograph, published by Phadion, dedicated to the designer, this display showcases key moments in Cocksedge’s career as it has unfolded in London over the past 12 years.

One of Cocksedge’s earliest pieces, Poised, was made in 2013 but is now being given its first gallery display. This steel sculpture evokes paper-like elegance and amenability, weighing around half a ton but appearing impossibly light and graceful. The designer’s precise calculations regarding the influence of gravity, mass and equilibrium mean this award-winning work is perfectly balanced and stable, despite seeming on the verge of toppling over.

The same gestural sensitivity combines with a strong conceptual awareness in later works like Excavation Sliced Core Table, which Cocksedge created in 2017 after hearing he was to be evicted from his London studio to make way for luxury flats. He extracted hundreds of cylinders from the studio’s floor, pairing the coarse textures of these brick and concrete pieces with the lightness of glass tabletops. The works highlight the transient and precarious experiences of creative professionals in major cities like London as they seek places to live and work.

In more recent years, Cocksedge has further developed his fascination with creating reflective surfaces, which he views as a form of alchemy – a combination of liquids that form a perfect mirror layer. In the Squeeze series, Cocksedge first compresses three-dimensional soft circular forms, before reinterpreting them into two-dimensional mirrors. This transforms the essence of the soft forms into flat, reflective surfaces, creating a sense of movement. Begun in 2024, this series made Cocksedge think of early human encounters with reflection, as seen in water or metal surfaces. “There’s an intimacy in the way these forms come together,” says Cocksedge. “I see them almost like a parent and child—soft, protective, and connected. That warmth and closeness are just as important as the materials themselves.”

Completing the display are 2025 pieces adding to the Slump series, which originated in Cocksedge’s long-standing fascination with industrially produced materials, having visited hundreds of factories over the course of his career. The designer shapes glass around concrete, steel, wood and rock to form ethereal tabletops, stretching and reworking the glass sheets at extreme temperatures to give the rigid, flat material an unexpected softness and fluidity. The steel base below the glass tabletop in the Slump Bubble Table gives the impression of being under a watery surface, while the stone and iridescent glass of the three new Slump Rock Drop Coffee Tables resemble a river running over a bolder.

Cocksedge’s installations have been featured in major cultural institutions and public spaces worldwide. He co-founded Paul Cocksedge Studio in London with Joana Pinho in 2004, winning national and international acclaim for projects that blend art, design and engineering. This exhibition charts key highlights in the career of a contemporary designer known for pushing the boundaries of materials and technology, and whose original and innovative creations are infused with a sense of joy and wonder.
Selection of Works