Benclif Designs
There’s a lot of upcycling going on these days. Generally that’s a good thing, as long as it’s in the hands of a skilled artist with a tasteful eye.
Georgia-based Benclif Designs has a knack for finding the old, rusted and tossed aside and giving it a repurposed role as a vessel of light. Rodger Thomas, the artist behind the brand, is always on the hunt for a dust-covered tool, can, appliance or piece of farm equipment that he can resurrect with a little bit of whimsy and craftsmanship.
He’s made his signature products out of an old kerosene can he found on a shelf in a small town in Tennessee, a vintage Revere 8mm projector, a well pulley, an antique wood plane and a Peerles level from a carpentry shop in North Carolina. And while he cleans up each item, he makes sure to leave the dents, nicks and scratches – the signs of character from each piece’s journey.
With years of experience in making light fixtures, his conceptions of the forgotten and disposed are not only unique in appearance, but they are functionally well-built with the most reliable electrical components. A self-proclaimed preservationist, Rodger creates light by blending the old with the new and the nostalgic with the utilitarian.
