Modular Momentum

Erika Cross is a shining star in the world of luxury furniture. In 2022, the Ann Arbor-based designer, who’s known for translating simple mechanisms often found in ordinary objects into elevated, gallery-level art, launched her first furniture collection at WantedDesign and won the WantedDesign Manhattan Best of Launch Pad for Furniture Award. More awards followed, as did invitations to exhibit her creations worldwide.

Furniture wasn’t initially in the designer’s path. During the height of the pandemic, the Monroe native lost her job as a creative director. She says she soon realized her unemployment was a gift. In fact, it was the catalyst Cross needed to launch her next chapter: furniture and object design.

Cross’ passion for creating began long before she launched herself into the design world. When the designer was a young girl, her mother bought a home that was “a total renovation project.” Cross spent her free time painting trim and knocking down walls; her mother even gave her creative license to test paint colors in the living room. “I got to see the transformative power of renewing space and how much impact our environment has on us,” she shares.

She went on to graduate with a BFA in art and design from the University of Michigan, a BS in interior design from Eastern Michigan University, and an MA in design products from the Royal College of Art in London, where she worked under Max Lamb for two years. Cross says her education and upbringing helped shape her experimental process, and are the basis of her namesake label. Today, her work spans from gallery showrooms to collectible design audiences. Her creations are three-dimensional, utilitarian sculptures that are perfect for art lovers who want their furniture to be art, too.

For her inaugural line, Cross drew inspiration from the everyday tools of her workshop, such as bolts and step blocks — mechanical items used for clamping and holding. She focuses on the honesty of her designs, choosing not to use fasteners or hinges to join her pieces. “I keep everything functioning in its truest, simplest form. My work is very monolithic, but it also has a whimsical element to it,” Cross notes.

Though playful, her designs are extraordinarily precise. Her Anvil table showcases her honest design approach with a user-friendly, utilitarian twist. The table’s seam resembles puzzle pieces effortlessly locked together. Then there’s her Bolt table, which spins. The threaded collar of the tabletop matches up with the base — an element that’s hand-carved so the collar seamlessly spins around the column.

At the core of her designs is adjustability — a design feature normally not seen in a gallery setting. “I want the end user to engage with the piece. I hope to create a relationship between object and user. The work is meant to move through the user’s life and adjust with it,” she says. The ability to reconfigure her creations gives each piece an element of sustainability, allowing items like the Bolt table, with its changing heights, and the Step table, with its multiple styling options, to easily adapt to new settings.

Cross also enjoys experimenting with materials, and works in a variety of media including castings, cork, wood, and plastic. “Everything is customizable, including dimensions and materials,” she says. “I want the work to be exactly what the user wants.”

Cross admits that she adores being in her workshop, where she can experiment with new materials and test plausible solutions. Currently, she’s in the midst of developing a bar cabinet inspired by spherical, metal sugar cube bowls. As she did with the Bolt and Step tables, she’s translating the gadgetry of an ordinary object into the design.

As a designer and maker, Cross has proven that daring to pursue your dreams doesn’t have to be scary. In fact, she asserts, listening to one’s intuition can lead to life-altering success. Sometimes, the inspiration we need is right in front of us.