In a design scenario that has become increasingly contemporary, Jason Hollis's Relic Designs centers on references to the traditional. Not necessarily period reproduction pieces, Hollis creations traverse the past for inspiration and come ablaze in the present with an antiquated glory. Swathed in a m©lange of textured materials, Relic Design appears to be an anti-thesis to the contemporaneous design trajectory.

Vanity Side View. Designed by Jason Hollis of Relic Design.

Relic Design is a participant at the Interior Design Show / IDS 09 and will be showcase the studio’s range of vanities, fixtures, Art Deco clocks, Art Nouveaux figural lamps and even materials like "custom concrete".  Pieces from Relic Design are not historical yet function as a medium to construe history. To support this postulation, Hollis is quick to inform us on his website that each component has its own anecdote and thus, has the power to make its own history. Says Hollis: "Each element, and therefore each Relic created from those elements, connects all this living history to the person who ultimately owns it, preserving and carrying on that history."

The coherent harmonization of resources is evident in all Relic creations, be it the vanity or the mirrored cabinet pictured above. For the vanity, Hollis employs concrete, wood from reclaimed doors and also incorporates corbels reclaimed from a Prince Edward County home. The mirror, with its moldy distressed look, may give the illusion that it has been picked up from the neighborhood garage sale. However a great deal of work has actually occurred to take this piece out of its utilitarian context. The mirror has been assembled from a number of reclaimed exterior components, including a glazed single door top, porch gable brackets and roof gable trim. Interestingly, Hollis's tap sets and decorative drain stoppers look almost baroque and give the illusion of lustrous luxury deeply influenced by universal references.

Jason Hollis proves his commitment to material reclamation and the craft of reconstruction. The explosion of clean design and structured lines radiate both historical potency and a recognizable confidence in this uniquely developed aesthetic.