Elle Decor USA - 07.2019 - 08.2019

100 ELLE DECOR

NOT FOR SALE

PRODUCED BY PARKER BOWIE LARSON

PHOTOGRAPH BY EVA AN KHERAJ

STYLED BY JJ CHAN

Each month, ELLE DECOR asks an artisan to create a unique item for us.

At the end of the year, these pieces will be auctioned off to benefit the charity of each maker’s choice.

So It Goza

TRADITIONAL JAPANESE TATAMI WEAVING

TECHNIQUES INSPIRE A GLEAMING MEDITATION MAT BY

THE DESIGN DUO BEHIND DOUGALL PAULSON.

In ancient Japanese culture, tatami mats—used as a surface for sitting or sleeping—were a luxury reserved for the country’s

nobility and samurai. Now common in Japanese homes, these portable surfaces, also known as goza mats, consist of two layers: a

straw core overlaid with woven rush. Inspired by the form and functionality of these mats, California designers and weavers Sean

Dougall and Andrew Paulson created this one-of-a-kind meditation mat. The iridescent piece, made of a brass-alloy jewelry wire,

is at once a work of art and a practical object. Not unlike Aladdin’s magic carpet, the mat has the ability to transport, if not to exotic

locales then to a more Zen mental state—it’s a welcome escape from reality, even if only for a moment. —Samantha Swenson

dougallpaulson.com

The Irid

Meditation

Mat is woven

from brass

jewelry wire.