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Mongolian designer Sarina has released a duo of stools clad in the pale bark of birch trees that celebrate the craftsmanship of the Oroqen people of Inner Mongolia.
The Oroqen people are an ethnic group native to the Inner Mongolia region of northern China, who have been using birch tree bark in their handicrafts for thousands of years.
However, rather than the brown inner bark used by Oroqen craftspeople, Sarina decided to employ the birch tree's outer bark, which has a distinctive silvery surface pocked with grey knots and splits.
"I chose to preserve the white texture of the outer bark – this texture not only showcases the unique natural beauty of each tree scar but also adds new visual layers to the pieces," Sarina told Dezeen.
She treated the raw bark with traditional steaming methods to achieve a cardboard-like consistency that is malleable and pliable.
The pieces were then hand-stitched together using traditional bark-splicing methods, which resulted in characterful scalloped, wavy detailing between joins apparent on both pieces.
