Some encounters carry an unusual clarity, as if a direction quietly reveals itself long before a project begins. When Æquo invited Kelly Wearstler in 2024 to shape a collection in conversation with its partner artisans in India, it came with an immediate sense of rightness. Since its founding in 2022 in Mumbai, the gallery has committed itself to creating bridges between India’s master craftspeople and visionary designers from around the world, cultivating dialogues that allow longstanding techniques to inform contemporary creation without erasing their lineage. Within this framework, Kelly Weartsler, who founded her studio in 1995 in Los Angeles, marked a singular moment. Her influence spans architecture, interiors and product design, and while she has collaborated widely across creative fields, India had never entered her practice until now. The gallery introduced her to a constellation of workshops that have shaped its identity from the start, allowing her to explore techniques and sensibilities she had not previously encountered. The resulting collections, Lahar and Tarang, are the fruit of this unique meeting between the creative energy of Los Angeles and the mastery of Indian artisans. One collection features a series of furniture pieces and table objects built around a massive cast bronze grid. Each bronze structure is carefully inlaid with hundreds of hand-shaped enamel pieces, creating a contrast of color and texture unique to every work, with subtle variations and singular nuances. The other takes shape in sculpted teak. Here, wood is carved by hand into fluid forms, burnt to deepen its texture, and accented with delicate bronze elements that trace its curves. Presented together, Lahar and Tarang offer a landscape where fire meets wood and metal, and where structure and fluidity coexist. They reflect the meeting of Los Angeles and Mumbai, of a designer entering new territory, and of artisans whose mastery continues to shape the identity of the collaboration, united by a shared reverence for tradition and its evolution. Æquo is delighted to unveil this exhibition on Thursday, January 8th. It is a celebration of Kelly Wearstler’s vision and the gallery’s ongoing role in curating these encounters and fostering a space where artisans and designers can shape one another’s worlds. This is a story where each material plays its part in a larger composition, and where craftsmanship is the source of a renewed creative dialogue.