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Rekha Maker
Edition Three Feature
Words by: Rekha Barry
Location: Glasgow, UK
Photo Credit: ©Robin Currie @robincurrie / ©Clair Irwin Photography @clairirwin_photography / ©Florence and Blank @florenceandblank
My name is Rekha (pronounced Ray-kah) and I founded Rekha Maker at the beginning of lockdown in 2020. I am proudly from Liverpool, UK, but have now lived in Glasgow for 13 years, having come here to study at the Mackintosh School of Architecture. Rekha Maker stemmed from the desire to create things that I wanted for myself and for my friends. I think sticking to what interests you is a good indication of what a wider audience would be interested in.
I am a full-time architect, which is a very rewarding job, but sometimes it takes a few years for designs to be realised, from conception to fully built project. When studying at the Mack, I loved using model-making and casting to express my ideas. When lockdown began, I picked this back up and started experimenting with designs for candle-holders and other small pieces. After giving the first prototypes to my friends as gifts, I realised that I might have come across something I wanted to continue doing. It was a great way for me to experiment with architectural motifs in a very playful and immediate way.
I predominantly work with a material called Jesmonite, which is a UK-produced eco-resin and gypsum composite – some call it an eco-alternative to concrete. It is poured as a liquid into my handmade moulds, where it then cures into a beautifully solid and weighty object. After polishing the piece to a very smooth finish, the resulting surface is something akin to marble, with that cold stone feel. A lot of work must be done to get to this point. Even to get to the point of pouring the final product involves so many unseen stages: design, initial testing and consideration of the most effective way to produce the first mould. I am by no means a mould-making expert and still have so much to learn, but I’ll give it a bash.