Domus Magazine Featuring Joel Escalona
Published on Domus n. 1077, 2023 - Courtesy of Archivio Domus - © Editoriale Domus S.p.A.
Mexican designer Joel Escalona has made a name for himself in the design world with his Noviembre furniture collection, which has been featured in the prestigious Italian magazine Domus alongside other notable Mexican designers and architects such as Enrique Norten, Luis Barragán and Mathias Goeritz . In this collection, Escalona sought to convey a message beyond mere functionality, inspired by the philosophy of Romanian sculptor Constantin Brâncuși. As Escalona explains,
“Noviembre was a watershed. I’m a designer but I’ve always felt a yearning for sculpture within me. Now that I’ve mastered the technique, I can finally devote myself to expression rather than function.”
The Noviembre collection includes a range of soft and serene furnishings and sculptures made from natural or black-dyed oak wood. Escalona's suspended sculptures, in particular, play with the concept of inner equilibrium, a theme that has been dear to him since 2018. As he puts it, "I think that to be a good designer you have to be a good person. To be a good artist you need to know others, but to do that you first have to know yourself and have clarity of thought. Only then can it be communicated to others. That’s my starting point."
One of the reasons why Escalona is considered one of the representatives of Mexican design is that his work is deeply rooted in his culture, yet at the same time, it transcends it. “I believe that Mexican design is full of contrasts," he says. "It’s not only about bright colors and traditional patterns. It’s about the way we mix modernity with tradition, and the way we tell stories through our designs.”
For Escalona, Brâncuși's work represents a perfect balance between simplicity and complexity, something that he has tried to replicate in his own designs. “Simplicity in art is essentially complexity resolved,” he says, quoting Brâncuși. “His work asserts itself with a strong and clearly perceivable presence. It conveys something that cannot be taught but can be felt. I’m filled with wonder at the way he worked, and I want to learn from him. It’s like I’m 20 again and now I’m starting to design once more.”
You are welcome to explore Joel Escalona's Noviembre collection at https://www.joelescalona.com/noviembre. As Escalona himself puts it,
