Brett Rubin and Io Makandal’s Inland Collective is turning the creation of mirrors and glassware into a form of art for the home.

Despite – and perhaps because of – the pandemic’s many challenges, a new crop of designers are pooling their collective skills to create some of the country’s most inspiring new product designs. Among these next-gen initiatives is Inland Collective, a Johannesburg-based art glass and mirror company that launched at Always Welcome in Hyde Park late in 2020. Founded by artists and life partners Brett Rubin and Io Makandal, who have both worked with glass in their individual practices, Inland Collective blends the processes of art and design to rethink the way in which glass and mirror come together for the home.

For Io and Brett, glass has become a canvas, and its iterations take the form of sculptural wall mirrors, shining vases and gleaming bowls that are as beautiful to use as they are to behold. Their approach comes to life in Cosmos, Inland Collective’s first range of hanging mirrors and vessels, which looks skyward for inspiration. The collection’s transparent layers and colours subtly evoke the tactile lines of Io’s drawings and the minimalism of Brett’s photography, at times featuring his archive ceramic-printed and layered onto the mirrors themselves.

“Despite everything that happened, 2020 was a year of growth for many people, pushing them to think about things in quite a different way,” says Io of Inland’s origins. “In art, the whole ecology of the field is changing into something even more ambiguous. And so we took the opportunity to approach the creative process from a different angle that ultimately feeds back into our art making. Brett had been working with glass as a material for a while, and understood it. I had experimented with glass in my own work in the past as well, so together we wanted to do something more product-based that could bring our expertise together.”

READ MORE: Local Art Exhibitions: What to See in 2022

Inland Collective celebrates collaboration by working with artisans, architects, product designers and interior designers to push the development of their products forward. Inland’s Galaxy bowls are produced in collaboration with glass-blowers in Tshwane – including Retief van Wyk – and many Inland pieces have been treated with unique mirrored applications that embrace new technology as well as long-forgotten glasswork techniques. Work with architects such as Counterspace, designers such as Houtlander, and interior specialists including Red Cherry continues the exploration of glass in art, retail and residential contexts.

“Glass is an alluring and unforgiving material,” Brett says. “With wood or metal, you can buff mistakes out more easily – but with glass, you often need to start all over again. From the raw material to the outcome, you never quite know what to expect. I think because we’re trained in different ways to how an industrial designer would approach the design process, there’s something quite intuitive about it – a daringness to explore how things can turn out – so you stop worrying about mistakes, and start looking at where you can take a material as you go along.”

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Never discard well-designed packaging: it has a function beyond protection. Here, what came in a box with a new mixer became a bathroom mirror and a picture frame.

The mirror and glass were cut to size – with polished, rounded edges – and clipped onto the sturdy triangle-shaped packaging with glass frame clips.

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From hexagonal options to sets, these 17 mirrors will not only add a stylish touch to your home, they’ll help to create the illusion of space too. Take your pick!

1. Fantasia Mirror R9 700, Dokter and Misses

2. Deep Frame Pill Mirrors From R5 190, Arkivio

3. Daisy Mirror R1 295, Block & Chisel

4. Sixth Floor Metal Framed Mirror Set Of 3 R999, Superbalist

5. Long Legged Rectangle Mirror R2 699, Esque

6. Wall Hanging Frameless Hexagonal Mirrors From R679, LIM

7. Ela Mirror R395, Weylandts

8. Ziyanda Steel Frame Vanity Mirror R4 785, Knus

9. Ombra Mirror R1 499, Country Road

10. Leather Strap Deep Frame Circular Mirrors From R3 990, Arkivio

11. Matte Black Bathroom Mirror R250, Woolworths

12. Box Mirror From R6 594, Mezzanine

13. Loren Dressing Table Mirror R3 495, Block & Chisel

14. Cloud Mirror R320, Simply Child

15. Horizon Mirror R1 245, Multiply Furniture

16. Lick Mirror Black and Gold R2 550, Design Store

17. Sixth Floor Eye Metal Mirror R599, Superbalist

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A table, storage ladder, bench and standing mirror comprise Country Road’s extended homeware offering, a minimalist range of furniture defined by clean, simple lines.

The Nomi collection features raw solid Ash tables (R799), perfect for use as side tables; 100% Poplar storage ladders (R2 199) made up of handy lock-in shelves for packing clothes or accessories; large standing mirrors (R2 199) made from a combination of Poplar, timber and glass, with joinery detailing in Ash; and a long Ash bench (R2 799) that can be used for seating or decorative purposes.

Nomi pieces are all available in both natural and black and are currently available in Country Road stores countrywide.

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Award-winning Swiss photographer and artist Sebastian Magnani is in the process of creating a series of images that deal with the way in which nature interacts with the world.

A former designer at an advertising agency, Sebastian became a full-time photographer in 2011.

His latest series, Reflections, which is still a work in progress, sees the Zurich-based photographer taking a round mirror and placing it in different locations, using it to reflect the natural surroundings.

For Sebastian, it’s important that his work is accessible, which is one of the reasons he’s made this series available on Society6, in the form of prints, tote bags, wall clocks, cushion covers, phone cases, towels, coasters, cards, cutting boards, blankets, laptop sleeves and trays.

To see more of Sebastian’s work, visit sebastianmagnani.com or follow him on Instagram.

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Challenging structural preconceptions through continuous innovation, Cape Town-based design and interiors studio OKHA has launched its striking Carbon Collection.

Made up of six objects, namely Black Rain, High Voltage, Law & Disorder, Mondo, Rock Sculpture and Omega V, the Carbon Collection questions traditional aesthetic and delivers unpredictable and awe-inspiring functional forms.

The Mondo coffee table is a contradictory puzzle that fuses wafer-like steel profiles and symmetrical geometries. Rock Sculptures by Chantal Woodman for OKHA are purely sculptural works that narrate crystal formations reminiscent of ancient fossilisation. Law & Disorder is the industrial design embodiment of natural structures in harmonious orbit. High Voltage mirrors in pylon form cast textured light, while Omega V boasts bones of solid oak and stepped brass legs.

Noted as possibly the most fervent work in the collection, Black Rain is a multifaceted mirror that replicates the ever-changing earthly tectonic plates and the sideways rain of a dark winter.

View more from OKHA, here. 

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An ethereal love affair between natural stone and coloured geometric glass, Stay Evil Kids‘ latest collection of mirrors will have you staring at your reflection longer than usual.

Titled Death Becomes Her after the macabre cult-comedy starring Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn, this collection of dazzling mirrors is a series in stone. Each piece of stone was carefully hand-selected from stone yards by the designers, Wendy and Jennifer. Each is as unique as its creator and is crafted largely from reclaimed natural stone including granite, marble and quartz. The rest of the stone hails from a depleted Namibian quarry, making it the last of its kind.

The collection is an enigmatic exploration of the incongruity of materials and ideas; rough stone juxtaposed by slick glass, the permanence of stone versus the delicateness of glass, the eventuality of death versus the fleeting years of youth. The collection includes a granite floor standing mirror named Tombstone, Fraternal Twin Bedside Tables, the Iceberg Vanity and a series of small stone mirrors in six shapes titled Series i – v.

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Who would have thought a table-tennis bat could be fashioned into such a nifty device?

Dig out an old table-tennis bat from storage or buy a new one, and turn it into a hand-held convex mirror to help you reverse out of the garage. A convex, or fish-eye, mirror increases your field of vision.

Simply attach one to the centre of the bat, and stick the bat out of the driver window before you reverse to see your car’s alignment and to check for anything appearing behind you unexpectedly, like an inquisitive cat.

We bought a set of table-tennis bats at a Chinese mall for R40. A convex mirror with self-adhesive backing can be picked up at any hardware store for about R10.

Find more Smart Ideas, here.

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Cape Town-based international design and interiors company OKHA’s latest range of mirrored artworks, entitled Good Looking Glass, challenges the concept of reflection.

The Good Looking Glass collection features five stunning designs, namely PORT, BLACK RAIN, GRID, TRIBE, SOLAR and REFLECT. Each piece is handcrafted meticulously using raw materials such as brass, timber and copper.

PORT features multilayered glass steps with copper-banded detailing that speaks of ripples reminiscent of bodies of water. Each step reflects the next making for a magnified pond-like effect. BLACK RAIN is inspired by the wintry storms of the chilly months and the accompanying torrential rain and wind that create a sort of diagonal downpour.

GRID features a black box with protruding copper cylinders and oozes simplicity and attitude with its minimalist design. TRIBE speaks of home through multicoloured Africa-inspired motifs and features a striking cross-reflection of each element.

SOLAR takes inspiration from all that is Ohm; think eclipses of the moon, zen gardens and asteroids from afar. Cubist in style, REFLECT features a myriad of geometric planes that fit together with angular purpose.

Love these designs? See more here.

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Whether you’re on the lookout for something compact or need a full-length mirror stat, here are 16 options you can find online and in store now, including mirrors from local designers like Arkivio, Kino, Copperleaf Studio, Bofred and Dokter and Misses.

1. HALF Mirror R3 500, Bofred

2. Mirror O Wall-mounted Mirror R3 500, Dokter and Misses

3. Metal Frame Leaning Mirror R3 599, @home

4. Umea Desk Mirror R1 150, Knus

5. Nata Mirror R899, Country Road

6. Bold Vista Mirror R13 650, Isabelina

7. Colour Block Round Mirror R599.99, MRP Home

8. Slant Desktop Mirror R3 935, Kino at Stable

9. Iron Rectangular Mirror R1 299, Superbalist.com

10. Classic Pill Mirror R2 390, Arkivio

11. Satin Brass Art Deco Mirror R5 920, Copperleaf Studio

12. Prong Mirror R999, Sarah Jane at Superbalist.com

13. Round Wall Mirror R299, H&M

14. Oslo Standing Shelf Mirror R2 000, MRP Home

15. Round Bamboo Mirror Rack R795, Weylandts

16. Convex Mirror With White Frame R899, Zara Home

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