Walk into a room lit by Yalanzhi Objects and the first thing you notice is not the light. It is the surface: rough, soft, slightly uneven, like bark or sun-dried clay. The studio was started in Kyiv by artist Julia Yalanzhi and her partner Yevhen Melnychenko, and every piece is formed by hand from cellulose and natural materials, then finished in their workshop.
Memory in familiar shapes
Many of the names are Ukrainian words, and they are a key to the work. Baniak and Makitra borrow the outline of the clay pots that stood in every village kitchen. Plattya, meaning dress, takes the flared silhouette of a festive skirt and cinches it with a gold band. Mavka is named after the forest spirit of Ukrainian folklore: tall, dark and a little wild.
Not lamps that sit in a room, but objects that change how it feels.
Between nature and sculpture
Other collections look as if they were found in a forest. Grono gathers shades like a bunch of berries. Bavovna, cotton, opens into white pods with gilded hearts. Khmyz, the Ukrainian word for brushwood, weaves soft strands into wall panels, a floor lamp and a coffee table that sit closer to collectible art than to furniture.
From Kyiv to the world's design fairs
The studio has shown its work at Collectible in Brussels, Maison&Objet in Paris, Decorex in London and Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven, carrying a quiet, earthy Ukrainian voice into rooms full of glass and steel. Pieces are made to order, and the team also creates bespoke lighting for architects and private interiors.
