Crafting the Contemporary

Marta Gay is a designer and curator working between Switzerland and Italy. Her design practice includes made-to-order pieces for private clients, as well as independently developed furniture and objects. She also curates contemporary art exhibitions and designs the spaces in which they are presented. As a curator at Gallaria Sonne in Silvaplana, she works mainly with artists based in Switzerland and Italy.

Her furniture practice begins with how people use and experience space. She reconsiders familiar types of furniture through contemporary forms, modularity and asymmetry, looking for balance without relying on perfect symmetry. Each project develops through research into materials, techniques and the context in which the object will be made and used. Collaboration is an important part of this process. Marta Gay often works with artisans, artists, textile designers and specialist manufacturers, bringing their knowledge into the development of a piece. She is particularly interested in how craft techniques and visual traditions can move between different places and be reinterpreted through contemporary design. Craftsmanship is important to her because it gives objects a clear material presence and makes the skills behind their production visible. She combines handmade processes with contemporary fabrication, working in small quantities and paying attention to durability, repairability and the responsible use of materials.

Her curatorial and exhibition design work follows a similar approach. Each exhibition is developed in response to the artists, the works and the venue. Through spatial arrangement, colour and light, she creates settings that support the exhibition and strengthen the particular character of each project.