SNAKE EYES
In celebration of our 11th “birthday” and the launch of our Snake Eyes Collection, we invite you to explore the power of symbolism and enchantment. of protection, transformation, and intuition see the objects in our lives not as static things, but as lively matter—participants in a shared, enchanted world. In this view, a thing is never just a thing. It pulses with will, imbued with energy by nature, its maker, or those who hold it dear.
These motifs, among the oldest in human history, offer a portal into a world where meaning gathers in form. Through the lens of Egg Collective’s personal narrative, and in dialogue with five artists—Kiva Motnyk, Taylor Kibby, Caroline Blackburn, Casey McCafferty, and Julian Watts—Snake Eyes invites a meditation on the enchanted object. Quilted forms and second skins, elemental vessels, hand-carved mythologies, and botanical abstractions converge, asking us to consider how material, memory, and spirit move together—quietly, but powerfully—through space and time.
contains within it two powerful protective totems, each assigned specific importance throughout human history - the figure of a snake and the watchful gaze of the eye. Both shapes being two of the oldest and most widespread mythological symbols. Historically the snake symbolized fertility and the creative life force, signaling notions of rebirth and transformation. Depictions of the human eye have come to offer both protection and ward off danger. The idea that images, objects and symbols carry with them an energy imparted by nature, mysticism, the creator or the possessor, is the space Snake Eyes inhabits.
Snake Eyes explores the idea of the enchanted object by weaving together concepts, images, and symbols from Egg Collective’s own personal narrative and the personal narratives of the five included artists. New works by Kiva Motnyk and Taylor Kibby hint at notions of the body through the use of visual references to the protective nature of quilts and second skins. Caroline Blackburn’s ceramic vessels make physically tangible the artist’s movements and act as visual evidence of the alchemy of hand applied glazes interacting with the heat of the kiln. To achieve this, Blackburn molds, throws and scrapes each piece until arriving at an instinctual and intuitive state of completion. Casey McCafferty’s carved wood and stone pieces reference totems, abstracted human limbs, mythology and nature, calling the viewer to contemplate a more elemental understanding of material and form. The hidden natural world is itself abstracted and meticulously explored by artist, Julian Watts, in his refined hand carved sculptures made out of wood, referencing botanical forms, landscape and the relationship of the human form to nature.
Throughout human history, the figure of the snake has held a singular fascination— its form is imbued with a sinuous swirl of meaning. As Egg Collective enters into its 11th year, we turn to the serpent as a guiding symbol. Drawing inspiration from its layered imagery to explore themes of fate, chance, and power.
Debuting on May 11, our Snake Eyes Collection merges the animal’s slender grace with its rich cultural signifiers to investigate themes of transformation and rebirth.
This collection, perhaps more than any before, is deeply personal. With that in mind, the three co-founders have chosen to share the following letter—written by one, on behalf of all.
Throughout human history the figure of the snake has held an innate fascination, both natural threat and alluring emblem, its shape imbued with a sinuous swirl of meaning. Entering our 11th year, the creative directors and co-founders of Egg Collective have taken up the serpent as a symbol, drawing inspiration from its complex imagery as they weave together concepts of fate, chance, and power. Debuting on May 11, their newest collection Snake Eyes pairs the slender grace of the animal with all its attendant signifiers, as the design trio analyzes the capacity for transformation and rebirth, while maintaining their consistent dedication to the exploration of form and the utilization of natural materials.
This Collection, perhaps more than any other, is near to our hearts. With that in mind, the three co-founders of Egg Collective decided to share the following letter with you, written by one on behalf of the whole.
Objects have the capacity to carry unmeasurable meaning. As a child I had a blanket that I couldn’t sleep without. Long lost now, I had not thought of this item until recently and yet I can conjure it to my mind with stunning detail. It was an icy color of pale blue and slightly scratchy to the touch. Acting like a cloak of protection, tucked in below its surface I could drift off to sleep knowing I was safe.
As an adult, I have imparted other objects with significance. The heart-shaped necklace I wore on my wedding day, the matching pair of Victorian era snake rings owned by my sister and I, the chubby clay imprint of my dad’s hand taken when he was a kid. Each is a symbol of love, shared dreams, and family.
Objects often represent much more than what they are. Acting as emblems of power, vessels for memory, or markers of time, they serve as physical memoirs that bear witness to, and span, human history. “Thing Power”, a term coined by philosopher and political theorist Jane Bennett, captures this idea asking us to entertain the notion that we live in an enchanted world occupied by lively matter. Through her work, Bennet challenges the idea that the “stuff” surrounding us is inert. Instead, she argues that it has a will of its own. As a creator of objects, I couldn’t agree with her more. For the past 3 years, Hillary, Stephanie and I have held back on releasing new work. Instead we have focused on growing our business by other means. Together we expanded our production facility, grew our team, and let our creative energies percolate. What has resulted is a deep well of inspiration. A series of objects willing themselves into the world; each asking us to consider what power they could hold.
Launching in connection with the 11th anniversary of our company, we have coined this body of work “snake eyes”. The phrase itself is a play on words and a wink at both the origin story of the company and the themes present in our latest designs. Seen as a reawakening after a period of hibernation, like a snake sloughing off its skin, or eyes opening after a long sleep, our 2023 collection explores the idea of the enchanted object by weaving phrases, images, and symbols from our personal narratives into our latest creations.
In dice, “snake eyes” is to roll a pair of ones. In our shared narrative, it is a nickname we gave to “Shandling 11” the dorm room we shared during the year our friendship was cemented in undergraduate school. As the lowest possible roll, double ones or “snake eyes” is considered bad luck. But, paradoxically the phrase contains within it two powerful protective totems - the figure of a snake and the watchful gaze of the eye. Both shapes being two of the oldest and most widespread mythological symbols. And both, resonating deeply with us.
In 2017 we conceived of and curated the first in a series of female focused design exhibitions entitled “Designing Women’’. The exhibition opened on the heels of the Women’s March, and featured works by 15 New York-based female-led design companies. As a symbol of our togetherness, and as a talisman of protection, we gifted each participant a delicate bracelet containing a single eye-shaped bead carved from mother of pearl. Mine broke many years ago, as did Hillary’s, but Stephanie’s still graces her wrist watching over her and warding off evil in the present day much as it has for people across the globe for over 5 millennia.
Like the eye, the serpent is another ancient and far reaching symbol. In Egyptian iconography and the Greek magical tradition, the ouroboros, a circular snake eating its tail, represented the cycle of life. Later, the serpent was adopted as a symbol of wisdom and eternal love, gracing the hand of Queen Victoria as her engagement ring. I myself learned to catch snakes in the grass as a child, and later had one as a pet. In fact, as I sit here writing, I am reminded of a chance encounter I had a few days ago with a garter snake that I found sunning itself. The beguiling nature of its liquid-like movement caught my eye. In that magical way that memory and form can trigger emotion, I was instantly transported to the summers of my youth. Time folded in on itself, and like the ouroboros, I had come full circle. Enthralled, I snapped a video as it glided off the road and sent it to Hillary and Stephanie. I was certain it was a good omen. Such is the power of these forms we hold dear — to ground us while also working a little magic.
- Crystal Ellis, Co-Founder Egg Collective
Eileen Gray, Design for a House for Two Cculptors: plans and elevation, 1933. © RIBA Library Drawings and Archive Collections
Though she designed nearly fifty works of architecture, Eileen Gray had the opportunity to complete only three projects during her long life. Upon her passing at the age of 98, the House for Two Sculptors lived on as a rarely published set of drawings (pictured above). Little is known about the project. Its clients, site, and broader inspiration were lost to history.
We encountered the design by chance while thumbing through a thin book published in 1979 entitled “Eileen Gray: Designer”. Upon further research we became more, and more, curious. We were enamored with both the project, and with Eileen herself. This house was our White Rabbit, and like Alice, we couldn’t stop ourselves, down we fell…
“Eileen, can we bring
this project to life
for you ?
…”
Eileen Gray, 1973, color photograph © National Museum of Ireland
Lewis Carroll, 1919, Alice in Wonderland
We will never know her answer to that question. We wish we could have asked her that and so much more. But we did try to listen.
Eileen passed without an heir or a formal plan in place for an archive of her life’s work. It is now preserved in fragments across various institutions. We worked most closely with the National Museum of Ireland, the V&A Museum and RIBA’s Library Drawings and Archive Collections. We scoured though books, journals and photographic images.
Eileen Gray, Portfolio, Tempe a Pailla Castellar, living room / studio with work table and terrace threshold. Photograph.© National Museum of Ireland
Gray’s archive was our guide. But even so, what we created using it will always be an approximation at best. Her drawings for the House for Two Sculptors did not include interior elevations, materiality, detailing or even scale (this we assumed based on the width of doorways). We traced her plan and elevations, we added scale and created a basic 3D model. Then the questions came….
Eileen…
Is it ok if we do this?
What is this line supposed to represent?”
What were you visualizing here”
Did you have site in mind?”
Who were the sculptors and what did their work look like?”
What material should this wall, this floor, this cabinet, this … be?”
We like to think she heard us, somehow, and that this project represents her answers — her hand there all along invisibly guiding the process. Below are the resulting renderings we created of her House for Two Sculptors almost ninety years after she put pencil to paper.
Egg Collective Renderings of the House for Two Sculptors ca. 2023