This month we are taking a moment to recognize the innovation brought about by contemporary craftsmen, makers, and emerging designers. Navigating an industry that prioritizes profit over quality, where cookie-cutter items are mass-produced at the expense of finish, originality, and the planet, artisans embody the emotional connection, human creativity, and resourcefulness necessary to deal with the challenges of today.
There’s a reason why Leonard Bessemer's curious furniture and objects resemble the protagonists of a stop-motion film more than inanimate matter. Actually, there are two reasons: "For as long as I can remember, I have always had creative instincts," the Objects for Objects founder and sole designer recalls. Fascinated with Disney animations and their ability to unveil worlds, stories, and emotions, Bessemer began to sketch his own characters as early as elementary school. "Kids would ask me to draw Aladdin or Bart Simpson," says the California-born-and-bread furniture maker. "In 5th grade, I even wrote and illustrated a book titled Simpsons and Me; they put it in the library, and it might still be there."
