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Bethan Laura Wood

Bethan Laura Wood (born 1983) is an internationally recognised English designer of jewellery, furniture, decorative objects, lighting and installations. She has designed for media such as glass, laminates wood veneer and ceramics. Work produced by her studio, WOOD London, is characterised by colour, geometry and visual metaphor, pattern and marquetry. She has been described as "[re-contextualizing] ... elements from everyday objects, often focusing on the pattern and coloration of objects as indicators of their origins, production, and past usage."

Early life and education

Wood was born in 1983 and grew up in Shropshire. She was diagnosed with dyslexia at sixth-form college. She studied 3D design at Brighton University, then studied at the Royal College of Art in 2007, tutored by Dutch designer Jurgen Bey and the Italian Martino Gamper. While still a student, she founded her studio, "WOOD London", in 2009.

Career

Wood has been commissioned by a variety of international companies to create works and installations, including Abet Laminati, Moroso, Valextra, Perrier Jouët, Bitossi Ceramiche, Tory Burch, cc-tapis, Tolix Rosenthal and Hermés.

Her work has been exhibited at the V&A Museum of Childhood, Swiss Institute Contemporary Art New York, Daelim Museum and Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo. She was a designer in residence at the London Design Museum.

In 2016 her work was shown in the Dresden Kunstgewerbemuseum in an exhibition called Friends + Design. The show was curated by Tulga Beyerle and Maria Cristina Didero and featured works by designers including Philippe Malouin, Richard Hutten, Michael Young, and Wood working together on specially commissioned pieces that "testify to the time, the affection and the trust that form the bond between ... very different people."

Wood was named in the 20019 Wallpaper* Power 200, which ranks her "among the world's pre-eminent design talent".

In February 2025, the Design Museum in London launched a new initiative called PLATFORM, "an annual display dedicated to showcasing contemporary design practice", the inaugural edition focusing on Wood's work and career. Also in 2025, she was invited to Japan to take part in the Tokai Project, the second edition of the Craft x Tech initiative. The programme is an exploration of how traditional "aesthetic sensibilities embedded in Japanese craft can be reimagined through a thoughtful and skillful creative process" reinterpreted through the lens of contemporary design and technology.

Awards

Recognition

  • 2012 – One of 850 alumni invited to Diamond jubilee Royal academy of Arts Gala in attendants of the Queen.
  • 2012 – MUDAC – Totem no.5 purchased for permanent collection.
  • 2013 – Abet Museum – Play time table purchased for permanent collection.
  • 2019 – Judge for 2019 Dezeen Awards.
  • 2019 – The Welcome Collection, Being Human – permanent gallery – commissioned project <em>Epidemic Jukebox</em>
  • 2020 – V & A – <em>Toothpaste bag designed for Valextra</em> (acquired for permanent collection).
  • 2021 – Bitossi Museum – permanent collection – <em>Guadalupe Vase & drawings</em>
  • 2021 – The Art Institute of Chicago, acquired for Permanent Collection – <em>Stain willow pattern</em>
  • 2021 – San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Accessions Committee Fund Purchase criss cross Kite
  • 2023 – National Galley of Victoria (Aus) NGV x MECCA Women in Design Commission – <em>Kaleidoscope-o-Rama bookcase and Carpet&nbsp; (acquired for permanent collection)</em>
  • 2025 – MECCA flagship acquisition commission – <em>Criss Cross Kite Grande Dame&nbsp;chandelier</em>

Select exhibitions

  • 2011 – Nilufar gallery during Salone del Mobile with pieces such as Totem, a lighting collection made from Pyrex in collaboration with master glass-blower Pietro Viero.
  • 2013 – Aram Gallery – Solo show.
  • 2014 – Kvadvat – Divina celebration exhibition, Milan Salone – <em>Guadalupe Daybed</em>
  • 2015 – Nilufar Gallery – Milan Salone exhibition – <em>Temple</em> Collection
  • 2015 – Tory Burch and <em>Wallpaper</em>*magazine – Touring Installation – Milan, Munich, New York – <em>Canapé</em>
  • 2016 – Designjunction – Dyslexic Design.
  • 2016 – Nilufar Gallery – Salone Milan – <em>CrissCross</em>, <em>Hula</em> and <em>Melon</em> Tables
  • 2016: The British Land Celebration of Design awards exhibition in Broadgate, London.
  • 2016: Friends + Design, SKD Museum, Dresden
  • 2018 – Aram Gallery – Designers select designers.
  • 2017 – Bijenkorf and Rijksmuseum Museum – Room on the Roof Residency Amsterdam – Afterparty <em>Sweet Dreams in collaboration with the TextielMuseum, Tilburg</em>
  • 2017 – Nilufar Gallery – Salone Milan – <em>Trellis</em> Collection
  • 2017 – G.F.Smith paper – Hull City of Culture – <em>Seaweed kites installation</em>
  • 2017 – Peter Pilotto – London Fashion week&nbsp;Commission Ready-to-Wear A/W 2017 Townhouse installation – <em>Sputnik floor lamps</em>
  • 2018 – <em>Perrier-Jouët</em> Champagne <em>Collectors’ Lounge, Design Miami – Scenography</em> – <strong><em>Hyper</em></strong><em>Nature Landscape</em>
  • 2018 – Designart Tokyo Festival – <em>Perrier-Jouët</em> Champagne – Commission – <em>HyperNature Sculpture</em>
  • 2018 – Moroso – Milan Showroom solo installation for Salone – <em>Mono Mania Mexico</em>
  • 2018 – CC-Tapis – Rug Collection – <em>Super Fake</em>
  • 2018 – Valextra – SS18 collection installation – <em>Toothpaste</em>
  • 2018 – <em>Perrier-Jouët</em> Champagne <em>Terrace Masterpiece – Scenography</em> – <strong><em>Hyper</em></strong><em>Nature herbarium</em>
  • 2019 – Solo Exhibition inaugurating new Nilufar 25 Exhibition Space, Milan – <em>Details</em>.
  • 2020 – V & A museum London&nbsp; – Exhibition Bags: Inside Out – <em>Toothpaste bag</em>
  • 2021 – Dior, Miss Dior 12 women artists exhibition (named collaborator) – <em>Flower Folly</em> traveling exhibition
  • 2021 – Nilufar Gallery, Solo Show – Ornate – celebrating 10 years of collaboration with Nilufar Gallery – <em>Ornate, Meisen, BonBon and Aperitivo.</em>
  • 2021 – Dubai design week – Women in Design – Exhibition – Super Fake Rugs & Guest Speaker
  • 2022 – Nilufar Gallery,(IT) A summer Room – new works – <em>Endless Meisen, Trellis column, totem no.11.</em>
  • 2022 – San Francisco Museum of Modern Art&nbsp;(USA) – Convesation Pieces – Exhibition – <em>Criss Cross Kite chandelier</em>
  • 2022 – The Drawing Center NY&nbsp; (USA) – The Clamor of the Ornament – <em>Sketchbooks, Toothpaste handbags</em>
  • 2022 – Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation (UK) Group show – Collaboration with Jochen Holz – Martino and Friends – <em>Our Lady of Guadalope</em>
  • 2022 – PAD london (UK) – Nilufar Gallery – <em>Meisen Caterpillar</em>
  • 2023 – National Galley of Victoria&nbsp; (Aus) NGV x MECCA Women in Design Commission – <em>Kaleidoscope-o-Rama bookcase and Carpet&nbsp; (acquired for permanent collection)</em>
  • 2024 – Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation (UK)&nbsp; Travelling Bluestocking Salon – Mother Tongue Presented by Nicoletta Fiorucci
  • 2024 – cc-tapis Headquarters (IT) – Travelling Bluestocking Salon – Salon Talk and installation
  • 2024 – Vitra Haus (Switzerland) <em>Home sweet home – Group Bird house exhibition – Paradise Perch</em>
  • 2024 – Nuovo gallery (HK) – <em>Solo Exhibition As seem Though the lens of Nilufar and cc-tapis – Multiple Furniture, lighting and carpets pieces</em>
  • 2025: Platform, Design Museum, London
  • 2025 – Byredo Takeover (IT) – <em>(named collaborator), THE KIOSK, THE CARGO BIKE, BYREDO MILAN FLAGSHIP</em>
  • 2025 -Triennale Milano (IT) 24th International Exhibition, titled Inequalities – <em>group show – Olive Mirror</em>

Collections

Bethan has works included in the permanent collections of the Wellcome Collection in London, London (Epidemic Jukebox in partnership with Kin design); V&A, London Victoria and Albert Museum(Toothpaste bag for Valextra); Dresden State Art Collections, Germany (Friends bed); Abet Laminate Museum, Italy (Playtime table); and Mudac, Switzerland (Totem No.5) and The Art Institute of Chicago (Stain), SFMOMA (Criss Cross Kite), and National Gallery of Victoria (Kaleidoscope-o-rama). In 2025, Bethan was invited to be the subject of the inaugural exhibition of PLATFORM, an annual display dedicated to showcasing contemporary design practices at the Design Museum in London, marking her first solo show in a museum context.

References

External links