Heath Nash creates beautiful objects out of simple materials. He’s a creative with a practical bent, an ideas man who is also good with his hands. His designs are complex, colourful, joyful celebrations of what it means to be South African.

Heath draws from local craft materials (paper, plastic, wire) and traditional crafting techniques (binding, weaving) – but steers clear of knit-your-own-muesli, rustic kitsch. Instead his pieces are beautiful, sophisticated feats of design and form. His Die Cuts pleated lampshade, for instance, is deceptively simple – origami at its most accessible – while Strength in Numbers’ modular structures are about forming stronger and more functional wholes by binding wire together.

But it’s his Other People’s Rubbish range, with his gorgeous, multi-hued Flowerball lights made from recycled plastic, which really captured the public’s imagination. Overnight Heath became South Africa’s poster boy for environmentally friendly design, winning a slew of awards, both local and international. His work has been showcased from London to Toyko, Milan to Kuala Lumpur, Lisbon and Vienna.

In spite of all his success, Heath maintains a very Capetonian (read very relaxed and laid-back) attitude towards his work – or certainly to the working side of it. Sure the conceptualising process may be cerebral and serious, but the actual making of his prototypes involves a lot of, well, playing.

“Giving myself the chance to play freely is very important to the making-of-the-model process. I use this work process every time I’m challenged with a new project or problem – I try to play with it. Then I try again.”

Heath’s playful take on his design process belies the technical skill and intricacy of his work. He and his team spend hours creating “every single part of every thing we make”, from the sourcing and cleaning of recycled plastic to creasing and cutting each and every petal for the Flowerball (a minimum of 240 flowers at six petals per flower!).

Time consuming and labour intensive it may be but Heath believes that when precious time is spent making a handcrafted object, “this invested time and energy is what makes the product beautiful, and inherently valuable.”

Well worth it. Visit www.heathnash.com




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