PONDERO STUDIO

to weight, to question, to reconsider





PROFILE

Madeline Wright

Conceptual & Speculative Designer

CONTACT


EMAIL: ponderostudio@gmail.com
INSTAGRAM:@_pondero
LINKEDIN:Madeline Wright
ABOUT

EDUCATION
BA (Hons) Product & Furniture Design
Chelsea College of Arts University of the Arts London
2022–2026


MA Contextual Design
Design Academy Eindhoven, Netherlands
2026-2028


EXPERIENCE Design Intern
The Restless Creative Consultancy
Essex, United Kingdom
2022


Course Social Media Manager
BA Product & Furniture Design, Chelsea College of Arts
2025–Present


Retail Sales Volunteer
Sue Ryder Charity Shop London, United Kingdom
2025–Present


COLLABORA-TIONS
UAL Not Just A Shop

The Worshipful Company of Fan Makers

Stockwell Park Community Trust

The Charterhouse

Ask for Angela Campaign

Victoria & Albert Museum, Response Collecting


EXHIBITIONS
Who the Fuck Are Product & Furniture Design?
Chelsea College of Arts
2025

Behind the Curtain
Chelsea College of Arts
2026

The Object Carries the Spirit
Degree Show
Chelsea College of Arts
2026


AWARDSUAL ‘Not Just A Shop’ Collaborative Project Competition Winner
2024


PRESS
Name of Zine
Project Feature
2026
               



Last Updated 24.10.31
SELECTED WORK



WHO REMEMBERS WHO?
2026
This project explores the idea that second-hand objects act as silent witnesses to human experience, carrying traces of the lives they have quietly observed.

Using domestic furniture, found photographs and shadow installations, the work considers what remains when people leave, move on or are forgotten. Rather than presenting complete narratives, it offers fragments of stories, inviting viewers to construct their own interpretations from the evidence left behind.

The project questions whether objects ever truly become detached from the histories of their owners, proposing that they continue to carry the presence of those who once lived alongside them. Through themes of memory, absence and attachment, the work explores how ordinary objects can become vessels for stories that can never be fully reconstructed.









BEHIND CLOSED DRAWERS
2025
Developed in collaboration with the V&A's Rapid Response Collecting initiative, this prototype responds to a growing cultural shift towards the selective visibility of contemporary relationships, inspired by discussions surrounding a Vogue article on modern intimacy. Translating a current social discussion into a physical experience, the work questions what remains unseen within modern relationships.

Using reclaimed wine crates and shadow installations, the project transforms a familiar chest of drawers into a site of discovery, where concealed moments are gradually uncovered through interaction.

The work considers how intimacy is increasingly contained, curated and privately experienced. By positioning furniture as a witness to this shift in human behaviour, the prototype questions what is revealed, what is concealed, and how contemporary relationships are shaped by the boundaries between public and private life.









LARROSE ARROSE
2024

Inspired by the French expression L’arroseur Arrosé, meaning “to be given a taste of your own medicine”, this project proposes a speculative form of design activism that challenges female objectification and exposes the normalisation of the male gaze.

Drawing on the evolving history of the feather fan, from a symbol of power and divinity to a tool associated with flirtation and burlesque performance, the project reimagines the fan as a speculative protest artefact. Constructed from shattered reflective mirror, the piece redirects the gaze back onto the viewer, transforming passive observation into active self-reflection.

Informed by interviews with women across generations and conversations with women’s safety organisations, the outcome evolved into an educational initiative advocating for greater awareness of respect, boundaries, and women’s safety, with the long-term ambition of introducing these conversations into the school curriculum.







RIBBON TO REBRAND PROJECT
2024








FROM WASTE TO WONDER
2023








STOP THE DROP
2023





JOURNAL




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