MFA Products of Design Presents Lost Wax at ICFF
At Wanted Design ICFF 2026, the Products of Design Class of 2026 presented Lost Wax—an exhibition of 18 objects that distill complex thesis topics into iconic forms cast in brass. The objects represent the hours that it takes to make something worthwhile: each piece is an investment in craft, in material, and in the harder work of cultivation.
Exhibition Design
Taking inspiration from jewelry display design, brass objects were laid out on hand-upholstered blue velvet cushions under glass. The display case was trimmed in dark wood, lit warmly from within and surrounded by a minimal, deep maroon booth enclosure.
To draw viewers in and create intimacy, a front wall featuring the exhibition statement partially blocked the display cabinet from view outside the booth and created an enclosure for those inside the booth. Upon venturing in, visitors were delighted to find the display open on the sides, allowing them to reach in and interact directly with the objects.
Exhibition design and build-out by (pictured below from left to right) Sinclair Smith, Gudrun Torfadottir, Ben Hone, Monty Preston, Sophia Haase and Heath Wagoner. Additional work by Sofia Grytsenko and Lauren Palazzi (not pictured).
“To gain that which is worth having, it may be necessary to lose everything else.”
The Casting Process
The 18 objects were created through lost-wax casting, a technique practiced by metalsmiths and jewelers for over 5,000 years. Objects were designed using an iterative sketching and prototyping process. Designs were then brought into Rhino and Fusion 360 to create 3D models. Wax positives were 3D-printed at the foundry and then encased in a liquid ceramic investment that hardened into a fireproof shell. The molds were fired in a kiln, which burned out the wax, leaving a hollow impression, and then filled with molten brass. Once the brass cooled, the shell was broken away, the sprues were removed, and each cast piece was hand-sanded and brought to a lustrous polish.
The Objects and Designers
18 objects, 18 designers, 18 thesis explorations.
Christiana (Ana) Aghjayan
Hermes
Hermes, god of travelers and messengers, reimagined as a hood ornament for the modern automobile. The piece bridges mythology and modernity, treating the car as the new chariot.
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Daniella Carmel Berg
Square Peg in a Bureaucratic Hole
A paperweight for your paperwork, to remind you of the weight of bureaucracy.
{TBD}
Sophia Haase
Imprint
Imprint is a brass stamp of a hand-drawn S letterform, representing the reclamation of hand tools and analog practices. Over time, Imprint will build up a patina that shows the wear of an instrument well-used.
Qi Guan
Miniature Bonsai
Delicate floral decoration grows across the surface of this small brass flower pot, merging metal structure with the craft traditions of botanical form and bringing warmth through contrast.
Carol (Zeyu) Tian
Hometown
A stress-relieving toy modeled after a bean native to the designer's hometown. Indentations of varying curvature make it comforting for users to touch.
Gudrun Tholl Torfadottir
Krummi
Drawn from Icelandic folk tradition, a raven perches on the sun, carrying the energy of wind, water, and light. A symbolic argument for renewable futures.
Monty Preston
Bearing
Bearing is a handheld generative path-maker. 4 directional points indicate possible headings, and a shallow groove channels a winding course, inviting the user to walk a less-trodden path.
Lauren Palazzi
Nana's Woven Basket
This heirloom object is a token of remembrance, modeled after the hand-woven baskets made by Lauren's nana before she passed away.
Ben Hone
Trashed Token
The solo cup as a game piece that represents the egregious consumption and disposable nature of party culture in America. Immortalization in brass makes visible the immense lifespan of this single-use vessel in a landfill.
Jessie Wang
Spinning Spoon Rest
A playful, rotating spoon rest that turns idle waiting time into a small moment of engagement for solo diners.
Rongfengyan (Eva) Mo
Melting
Melting captures the psychological state of working from home: exhausted and exposed, where boundaries between life and work bleed into one another.
Haosen Zhang
Resonant Branch
Juxtaposing the symmetry of a tuning fork with a tree's natural form, Resonant Branch is a desk objét designed to highlight the tension between human precision and nature.
Tong Zhao
Your Attention
Brass dumbbells designed to attach to either side of a mobile phone. The added weight is a material measure of the attention we pour into our screens.
Sige Zheng
Semillas del Mar (Seeds of the Sea)
A surf wax comb that merges function with storytelling, embedding Oaxacan textile patterns of cacao and corn (symbols of life and divine gift) into a ritual artifact.
Danli (Rida) Zeng
Metaphorical
Vertebra, butterfly, flower, gua sha. This handheld massager and three-dimensional Rorschach totem addresses chronic pain as both physical experience and constructed meaning, anchored in Seneca's observation that we suffer more in imagination than in reality.
Shiyu (Lynn) Zhang
WOVND
Developed through research into bodily trauma and protection, this brass totem invites the wearer to reconsider the boundaries of their own body.
Qianyue Zhou
Drop of Attention
Shaped from the softened outline of a social media "like," this small brass totem represents the transformation of attention into something external and measurable through reactions and online symbols.
About the course
This work was created in the Intro to Design for Manufacturing course taught by Heath Wagoner. Wagoner is an industrial designer working in fine jewelry and flatware. He has worked for clients including Pamela Love, Tiffany & Co., Dion Lee, Puppets and Puppets, and Nocta, most recently collaborating with Bottega Veneta under his own eponymous brand. He holds his MFA in Products of Design from SVA and a BFA in Silversmithing from East Carolina.
About the MFA in Products of Design
SVA’s MFA Products of Design is a STEM-Certified program located in New York City that provides graduate students with the tools and methodologies of all key design fields. We empower designers with the leadership abilities they need to solve global problems and create lasting social change.
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