Enter Bolaji Teniola's studio, as he talks through the making of The Omi Vessel, exhibiting at Craft in Felled, 2026 for Melbourne Design Week.
The Omi Vessel takes its form from Nigerian water pots, which were traditionally used to store, cool and purify drinking water through natural evaporation. Omi has not been crafted to hold water, but instead it carries the story of the Cupressus Macrocarpa (Monterey Cypress), from which it is comprised. The timber came from a tree that once served as a windbreaker on a dairy farm near Scott's Creek, Victoria. When the tree was eventually felled, some of its timber was acquired by local woodworker Byron Raleigh, before then making its way to Bolaji. Using this material, Bolaji meticulously hand-planed 888 strips, each approximately 0.09mm thick. These strips were then unfurled, layered, pressed and bound with an organic adhesive, giving shape and form to Omi. Semitransparent and ephemeral, the material takes centre stage. Ambient light passes through the vessel, celebrating the grain and natural characteristics of the Cupressus Macrocarpa.
As the climate crisis grows ever more present, and in response to the ban on Victorian commercial timber harvesting, Omi offers an approach that moves away from linear, extractive, non-renewable production methods. Instead, it focuses on solutions that make use of what already exists.
About the artist
Bolaji Teniola is an interdisciplinary designer practising in Naarm/Melbourne. Holding an Associate Degree in Furniture Design and a Bachelor of Industrial Design from RMIT University, Teniola blends the knowledge gained from both disciplines to develop pieces that sit at the intersection of craft, art, and design. Moved by a fascination with materiality, stemming from experience gained working for design studios locally and abroad, and finds joy in allowing the process to unearth pragmatic solutions. Bolaji’s works have appeared in various publications, exhibited nationally and internationally, are part of private collections, and have received several awards.
Video by CJ Cornish