BOLD Talent

Meeting them in their studio feels like stepping into a laboratory of ideas; every corner reveals a new experiment in motion, texture, and light. Their practice thrives on intuition and hands-on making, translating the joy of discovery into large-scale installations, set designs, and interactive experiences.

In conversation, we explore the role of play in their process, how scale and tactility shape their ideas, and why imperfection might just be the most human form of beauty.

Justified: ‘Play’ as a theme often appears in your projects. Do you treat it as a tool for exploration rather than just a stylistic choice?

Isabel + Helen: For us, we see it more as experimentation. Play is less of a stylistic decision and more of a fundamental part of our process. We start each project with physical experimentation, playing with materials and mechanisms in unexpected ways, and not taking things too seriously from the start.

Justified: Many of your installations manipulate scale in playful or surprising ways. What drives your decisions around proportion and spatial impact?

Isabel + Helen: We’re driven by how people interact with our work; that’s what determines the scale and brings each piece alive. Whether it’s something animated by hand, a wearable piece, or a large installation that people can walk through, the interaction defines the experience.

There’s also a contrast between scales that we love to play with. If something is large and bold in presence, we often balance it with small, intricate details, so there’s always something new to discover. We love the idea that a viewer might come back and notice something they missed the first time. That sense of discovery is really important to us.

Justified: In an increasingly digital world, how important is the physical, tactile aspect of your work, and do you see that changing in the future?

Isabel + Helen: Our work is the antithesis to the increasingly digital world we live in. It’s physical, hands-on, and grounded in real-life process, and that’s where much of its magic lies. We believe people are craving this kind of experience more and more.

What makes our projects so engaging is that they’re crafted in the real world, often with a complexity that sparks curiosity and imagination, whether it’s a physical installation or a film.

As AI makes perfection more accessible, we’re seeing a growing appreciation for the human touch. Imperfection, texture, and the presence of the maker are becoming things people value. Flaws are no longer flaws; they’re what make the work feel real and relatable.

Justified: If you could experiment with any medium or scale tomorrow, without any limitations, what would it be and why?

Isabel + Helen: We’re excited by the idea of designing a range of products, especially objects that are rooted in function. There’s something compelling about taking a utilitarian object, like a tent or a lamp, and reworking its form, purpose, or behaviour through a more experimental lens.

We love having a fixed framework to push against; it gives us space to play, test ideas, and explore new outcomes within clear boundaries.

Justified: If someone were to look back at your body of work in 20 years, what themes or threads would you hope they see running through it?

Isabel + Helen: We’d hope they’d see a continued fascination with movement and materiality. We hope the work sparks a sense of nostalgia for simpler, less complicated times and reminds people that there is magic in the real, in the handmade, and in simplicity. There’s still so much joy to be found in that.