Bling Bling Dynasty by Daniel Emma at Hugo Michell Gallery in Adelaide.

Recently on show at Adelaide’s Hugo Michell Gallery, Bling Bling Dynasty by Daniel To and Emma Aiston of Daniel Emma is a collection of furniture that embraces the couple’s Asian roots and the time spent in-between cultures.

“Our work aims to be ‘Just Nice’ nothing more, nothing less, that’s all.

It is this ideology that embodies each piece we design. Always collaboratively equal parts Daniel and Emma. Our influence is inherit, and comes from our unique childhoods, our travel experiences and the distinctive ‘melting pot’ culture that Australia presents us with. We take pleasure in ordinary everyday things and like the idea of viewing daily life as something special, we try to reflect this sentiment it each piece we make.

That for us is ‘Just Nice’.

Much of our childhood experiences are embedded within Asian culture, namely Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan and since our studios inception 7 years ago, we have spent a significant amount of time traveling throughout Asia for both work and pleasure. In a more recent trip to Hong Kong to visit family we began to see many correlations between our use of colour and form and the urban landscapes we had been exposed to. We have both always been fascinated with the varied and unparalleled way of life experienced when in Asia, so it was an epiphany to attribute our work to certain encounters and influences that we had previously taken for granted.

Bling Bling Dynasty is us finally owning up to what inspires us. It’s still our life but more specifically the time spent in-between cultures. This show is what we hope to be the first of many that looks at our relationship with these cultures and is represented in a room of objects and furniture.”

[Images courtesy of Daniel Emma and Hugo Michell Gallery.]