PLATFORM: Bethan Laura Wood at the Design Museum

The Design Museum is introducing a new series that gives artists a platform to showcase their work. Every year features a different contemporary artist with the first entry being Bethan Laura Wood. Colourful and intricate, Wood’s chosen pieces for PLATFORM present a journey into her career, displaying her many interests, the countries she has travelled to and cultural inspirations. All of that is wonderfully framed by her affinity for colour. The presentation is divided into three sections: Desire, Hyperreality and Adornment. Each section has its purpose and meaning but they all connect to one thing: the idea of combining art and function. Through her work, Wood puts a lot of emphasis on creating art out of things that people normally would not associate with creativity.

Desire opens viewers gently to the multiple layers of her work, first questioning the concept of worth. Through a series of displays showcasing different types of stains on cups, Wood asks why there is more value in something that isn’t being used as opposed to the things that are constantly being used. This theme of challenging perception is very evident throughout Wood’s exhibition, and she enhances the effect by blending different mediums and meshing digital designs and prints with natural materials. The Bloom is by far the most fascinating piece of this early section. A collaboration with Pietro Viero, the lights reflecting off of the well-crafted glasses cast a flower-like shadow on the walls, further emphasising this idea of finding beauty in the most unexpected places.

Hyperreality focuses a lot on patterns and perception. It also features the only interactive piece, Terrazzo Quarry. An installation of three rock-like shapes that can be sat on, Terrazzo Quarry is adorned with psychedelic markings that give the illusion of a hard and solid surface. When touched, they’re soft and comfortable. Playing further with perspective, Wood uses these vibrant patterns, shapes and colours, applying them to shelves, carpets and other furniture pieces to marry the flat and glossy to something tangible. With these creations, Wood challenges this hyper fixation on the digital landscape, one that is curated and fleeting, instead making something real and solid.

Wood closes her presentation with Adornment where she uses ornamental designs and makes something useful out of them. There’s a certain stigma in decoration where it can be seen as something “silly” and “vain”, and Wood disrupts this idea by creating functional pieces that are aesthetic and beautiful. Throughout the exhibition, Wood has referenced the places she has travelled to, from Amsterdam to Mexico and the cultural inspirations she has taken from those places. In Adornment, she touches on Japanese culture, using the kimono as an example of the marriage between art and function.

Saving the best for last, Wood’s last PLATFORM display is the Meisen Caterpillar Cabinet, which is inspired by the caterpillar in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. Beyond its obvious beauty with the mesmerising blend of colours and the well-thought handles, this piece encapsulates everything Wood’s artistry stands for: the colour, taking inspiration from other cultures – in this case, Italy and parts of East Asia for the handles and legs – and most importantly, finding and creating beauty out of simplicity and function.

Mae Trumata
Photo: Courtesy of the Design Museum

PLATFORM: Bethan Laura Wood is at the Design Museum from 14^th February 2025 until 25^th January 2026. For further information or to book visit the exhibition’s website here.