Danish textile designer Stine Mikkelsen has crushed granite, melted tin and torched rope to create this collection of bizarre-looking furniture for Miami's Aybar Gallery.

The rugged finishes of Mikkelsen's Tactile Monoliths are based on objects found in the harbour of her hometown, Marstal, which is located in Aero ? one of Denmark's Baltic Sea islands.
The designer is now based in Copenhagen, where she handmade the collection for the Aybar Gallery.

Before designing the shapes of the sculptural pieces, Mikkelsen started the project with a series of material experiments using crushed granite, tin and rope.
While some of the objects have obvious uses, such as a plant pot with two large handles that extend either side and a circular floor lamp, others are more obscure, which Mikkelsen says offers an element of intrigue.
"I am trained as a textile designer, but have been working more with materials in general," Mikkelsen told Dezeen. "As a textile designer, you often work with building up collections, which means your focus is on finding a harmony in combining for instance textures, size and colours."

"By using the textile design methods to make objects, the material and the process of making is always the starting point," she added. "Through experiments I get to know and understand the material and with the gained knowledge, I can start sketching objects."

Earlier this year, Norwegian designer Sigve Knutson produced a similarl...