Lane Walkup is an artist, blacksmith, and metal bender, framing the world in wire. A chair, a boot, a bowl of fruit—Lane's sculptures are magical 3D drawings that utilize negative space and the beauty of simple lines.
Lane’s new FRAME BAG is a wearable sculpture handmade in her Portland studio. In collaboration with Lane, PGF was thrilled to design and create the vinyl inserts, made from factory dead stock, that rest inside the metal frames.
We recently caught up with Lane to celebrate the first edition of her Frame Bags (available HERE while inventory lasts!).
When did you start working with metal?
I started working with metal 8 years ago, when my dad taught me how to weld, and then his best friend taught me how to blacksmith. I think what initially attracted me to the material is that you can make almost anything out of it if you stretch it's typical uses...it's been a really creative venture for me to think up new ways to use something so strong and enduring! Once I started, I knew I would never stop working with it on some level.
How do ideas for sculptures come to you?
I think my ideas for pieces usually happen pretty organically, and if I’m not feeling inspired, I don’t make something new! In the beginning I was firing out pieces left and right, and now I think my ideas have built upon themselves and expanded into new and matured versions.
Do you think of your wearable/functional pieces differently from your non-functional sculptures?
There's a special place for both of them, but yes. One facilitates the interest of the other. I do this work full time, so having both functional and non-functional practices has been not only helpful financially, but also creatively. I love making a wearable bag that looks like a sculpture I’ve hung in a show. It really speaks to the versatility of the material.
Tell us about the FRAME BAG. What was the process like for developing this idea?
The process for the frame bag came earlier on when I made a cube and attached handles to it, laughing at how pointless a bag it was. A year later I was sitting down drawing out new ideas and all these bag designs popped into my head. When my friend’s shop anniversary party rolled around this past summer for Johan, she was looking for special pieces for the event, so we talked about making frames around these plastic bags she was selling, as a functional art piece to display. I loved it too much to keep it a one-off thing, so the bag was born!
Tell us a little about collaborating with PGF on the insert.
I wanted to collab with PGF because I wanted inserts that were ethically produced and perfectly designed to fit and stay!! It was a dream come true to see these come to life, sharing something I feel really good about putting into the world on both an environmental and personal level. I have more designs for different bag styles I would love to collaborate with PGF on in the near future, stay tuned ;)
Thanks to Lane for sharing her thoughts with us!