ad magazine
Transforming Wood into Flowing Art: Explore Sycaro's Hand-Sculpted Spoon Ensemble
our wooden muse
It’s the sinuous grain within a log of wood that brings Mananpreet Singh and Jasleen Kaur’s (of Sycaro Studio) carved objects to life. “There’s a constant dialogue with the wood and its grain density, and it quietly guides us and tells us what to do,” say the Amravati-based architect duo pointing to sketches behind the omnipresent household pieces they’ve designed, albeit with a sculpturally playful twist. A conical bowl called Melt, made from Khandwa teak, tricks the eye into believing the wood is dripping like a thick syrup, while a salad serving bowl, fittingly named ‘Fabric’, dons flowy draped corners echoing a sashaying swath of silk.
a window into history: a studio's genesis
It started with a passion and curiosity to learn more about woodworking, a practice that has been handed down for two generations in Singh’s family. “The idea was to create functional objects that would make people feel special and discover stories through each use,” explains Kaur. “We began with a spoon because in woodworking, that’s the first thing one learns to carve. It takes a while to perfect chiseling it down to a smooth curve, and thankfully, there are no loud noises while making it—it’s a silent, meditative process that involves constant repetition.”
Etching Stories in Wood: an endless narative
A year after delving into the intricate skills of carpentry, they’ve formed Sycaro Studio, where they hand-make each prototype from scratch, following the curves and nuances in the wood they’re sculpting. From teak sourced from Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh (which Singh says is the best in the country) to sal, beech, and wood from the jamun tree, every form of timber throws up inspiration for their designs. However, the softer the wood, the thinner it can be cut, which makes sycamore the one they fall back on for their more intricate designs. “Through the history of wood-working, the milky white wood from this tree is beloved by every skilled carpenter for its intricate grain connection, which makes it tough and sturdy enough to be cut and smoothened down to a waif-like three-millimetre thinness. That’s almost as thin as a steel spoon. And it won’t break!” remarks Singh. It also inspired the first half of the brand’s portmanteau, with the latter meaning exquisite luxury in Italian.
Forever Crafting: The Studio's Enduring Spirit
A series of spoons make up a large part of their collection, which is an ode to pushing the boundaries of craftsmanship, where one opens out as an entire galaxy in motion and another with an intertwined chunky handle echoing the form of a chain link. “We didn’t want to make a basic chammach; we hoped to create these visually unseen moments with everything we mould,”points out Kaur. “We’re open to making anything, just not bulk production,” she adds, as we spy a pair of spectacles and a wooden ring, both cosily tucked into their perfectly sized carved cases. “The specs were the toughest to make—I really want to make them again, but...,” Singh warily cuts short, and Kaur discusses how it required a lot of “jugaad,” and took two months to make one piece. “We had to be very careful not to break the wood at various curves, and the hinges are microscopically tiny. We had to re-sculpt it every day, which turned into a form of meditation over the past year,” she recalls, with Singh musing, “In a way, it’s made us more spiritual over time.”
