Less than a month away, Design Miami/ 2023 is fast approaching, and we can’t wait to welcome you to the 19th edition of our hometown fair!

Together with more than 40 Gallery and Curio exhibitors and a score of Partners and program collaborators, we are cooking up an inspiring, design-fueled experience for our international community of connoisseurs to enjoy. With thanks to Curatorial Director Anna Carnick, Design Miami/ 2023 will explore the thought-provoking theme Where We Stand, highlighting the storytelling power of design, and, in turn, its potential for nurturing the interconnectivity so urgently needed in these polarized, vertiginous times.

To whet your appetite for what’s to come, we’re sharing a sneak peek at nine outstanding collectible design beauties that you’ll discover at Design Miami/ between December 5th and December 15th.

For Design Miami/ 2023, R & Company is unveiling a new collection of ceramic and luster illuminated sculptures by Katie Stout. Working across an extraordinary array of traditional handcraft techniques, the Brooklyn-based megatalent challenges the traditional associations that code decorative arts as female and conceptual art as male, creating complex yet charming furniture and objects that are always full of surprises. Stout’s fresh pendants are joy incarnate.

Represented by Carpenters Workshop Gallery, Maarten Baas has developed a new iteration on his iconic Real Time series, the Dutch design star’s multifaceted collection of clocks that turn timekeeping into a poetic performance. Crafted in wooden planks reminiscent of a treehouse, Baas’ new Grandfather Clock–The Son celebrates childhood imagination. The clock face presents Baas as a Peter Pan-like character, inviting us to join him in his life-long resistance to growing up.

Presented by Diletante42, this gorgeously minimalist chaise, exquisitely crafted in peroba wood, epitomizes the design genius of 20th-century Brazilian architect Lina Bo Bardi and her unyielding commitment to finding beauty in simple, everyday functionalism. With consideration of Brazil’s hot tropical weather, Bo Bardi designed the chaise with rope instead of upholstery to enhance ventilation and, in turn, the users’ comfort. And the form is, simply put, perfection.

For Design Miami/ 2023, Ateliers Courbet is showcasing a new body of work by Hamza Kadiri, the Casablanca-based sculptor who honed his reverence for and mastery of wood through apprenticeships in Japan and beyond. Kadiri carved his monumental Balthazar Armoire by hand before charring the intricate ashwood surface using the traditional Japanese technique Shou Sugi Ban. Inspired by mythology and classical art, Kadiri’s bold curves and textures magnify the natural material’s inherent allure, resulting in a storage piece that’s also a centerpiece.

Working from a converted 1940s brewery loft space in the heart of San Juan, Reynold Rodriguez transforms mahogany trees felled by Hurricane Maria into captivating works of functional art—an ode to Puerto Rico’s resilience and resourcefulness. Represented by Charles Burnand Gallery, Rodriguez’s latest body of work includes En Tus Brazos (In Your Arms). Hand-carved from a single tree, this striking, sculpted seat features a naturally polished interior in conversation with a rugged exterior that still bears the scars of the material’s charred past.

For Design Miami/ 2023, Adrian Sassoon is unveiling a new lighting collection from Vezzini & Chen, the London-based studio of ceramics artist Cristina Vezzini and glassblower Sheng Tsang (Stan) Chen, who joined forces after honing their crafts at the Royal College of Art. Gracefully composed of blown and cut glass and carved parian porcelain, the duo’s Forget Me Not Lights feature biomorphic forms, refined detailing, and rich color palettes that, in concert, affirm that masterful decorative arts are alive and thriving in the 21st century.

Galerie Mélissa Paul will present a super cool pair of Charlotte Armchairs, designed in 1994 by late-modernist, neo-minimalist Swiss architect Mario Botta—a virtuoso of pure geometries and essentialist volumes. Handwoven in natural wicker over a simple steel frame, these truly timeless chairs are an intriguing exercise in positive and negative space; visual appeal and bodily comfort rolled into one.

For J. Lohmann Gallery, British-Portuguese ceramic artist Toni De Jesus has just completed his new He Loves Me... He Loves Me Not collection, which includes these oh so delightful Daisy Vases. Inspired by the symbolism of flowers, both culturally and personally, the collection is an exploration of polygonal shapes and the relationship between organic and “manmade” expressions. The creation process is labor intensive. De Jesus first builds the pieces by hand, coiling porcelain to form the bodies and sculpting the various elements one-by-one. After drying, the vessels are fired before glaze is applied and the vessels are fired again. Next comes the digital decal transfers, which are generated from photos that De Jesus takes on strolls through local parks and gardens. As a finishing touch, gold luster is applied before a final firing. The effort pays off in works that exude a heartfelt intimacy.

For Design Miami/ 2023, SIDE Gallery is presenting recent work by Mac Collins, the Nottingham and Newcastle-based designer whose narrative-rich work draws on a range of references, from mid-century European design history to his own Afro-Caribbean roots. Collins’ Open Code—which includes a game table, four chairs, and a set of dominos—was originally created for an exhibition at an 18th-century English country house once belonging to plantation owner Edwin Lascelles. As Collins explains, “When you understand the history of how these places were funded… it can be quite jarring. It can feel almost like a celebration of how lucrative it was to exploit people. I think it’s important that audiences recognize the history of these places and recognize that the Caribbean community is inherently linked with them.”