“Duzi is the space where my practice takes shape. It is a place for making, experimenting and following ideas wherever they lead.
Each object begins with a process, a material or a simple observation. Through making, these gradually find their own form. The workshop becomes a place where curiosity is tested by hand, and where craftsmanship gives structure to instinct.”
Douglas Powell is a designer-maker whose practice moves between furniture, objects and sculpture. Working across metal, timber and stone, he explores familiar typologies through material, process and craft.
Born in Zimbabwe, Douglas studied product design in the United Kingdom before training as a metal fabricator. Now based in Walyalup/Fremantle, Western Australia, every piece is designed and made by hand, with an ongoing interest in how making itself can shape the final work.
‘Every object carries traces of the places, people and experiences that have shaped its making. Having lived across Zimbabwe, the United Kingdom and Australia, I recognise how each continues to inform my practice.
I live and work in Walyalup/Fremantle on Whadjuk Noongar Country. I acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians of this land, and pay my respects to Elders past and present. Their enduring relationship with Country reminds us that making has always been a way of understanding place.’